Walker stared at a few people near the docks as he sat on the hood of a car. His arms were crossed and he simply watched the people shuffle in place while his Gears had their weapons aimed at them. It was some low end rival group that had tried to sabotage his supply line, which was to be expected. They were trying to make a name for themselves but ended up picking the wrong group to cross. Blake and Jaune looked at him as he grabbed the Lancer and gestured with his hand for one of his Gears to hand him a suppressor. He twisted it on before aiming at the group and firing.
The casings flew through the air as he gunned them down and the rounds detonated in their bodies. Each individual one ripped a large chunk out of their bodies and splattered blood onto the ground. The others gulped a bit and backed up as he handed the Lancer back to the Gear, gesturing with his hand for one of them to torch the bodies. He simply watched the flames eat away at the rival group. The scent of burning flesh reached their noses and they gagged while he just ignored it.
"Boss." One of them called out.
"What?" He asked.
"What should we do with them?" The Gear asked as he gestured towards the burnt corpses.
"Dump the bodies in the water." He ordered. The Gear nodded and they waited for the bodies to cool down a bit before grabbing them by their arms and legs, cringing at the feeling before tossing them into the water. He went to the survivors and stared down at them, kneeling before him with terrified expressions. The others surrounded them and stared down at them as well.
"You don't have to kill them, we can let them go." Jaune said.
"For them to bring some more of their friends?" Walker asked, the Boltok in his hand hovered over each of their temples before moving onto the next one.
"We're better than this." Jaune said.
"Stop acting noble. They're going to go back to their friends and tell them what happened, from then on they're going to come back with more manpower." Walker said.
"W-We won't. We were just working for them." One of them said.
"Bullshit." He responded, aiming the Boltok over his head.
"It's true. They promised us lien if we did this job. We didn't know it was for the Gears." The man responded. He monitored his supplies very carefully, ensuring that nothing would disrupt their path or have them stolen. Rival companies had tried to steal them recently and he's always dealt with them. The first time he was merciful, but it soon changed after that. His rivals made it clear they weren't willing to solve things peacefully which resulted in him handling things personally.
"Boss, they could be of some use to us. You are always saying we need more people." A Gear leaned in and whispered to him.
"..." He didn't say anything but kept staring at the five survivors.
"J-Just let us go, man. We won't say a word." One of them pleaded.
"I know you won't, but I can't let you go." He said before nodding to a few of his Gears. They nodded back before roughly collecting the remaining survivors and hauling them away. Blake and Jaune looked at him and he ignored their stares before climbing into the car. They were worried about him. Both had noticed that he had become somewhat more ruthless ever since he found out about the threat. He started to seclude himself into his own thoughts and work, often overworking himself to the brink of collapse.
When they'd wake up, he had already exercised and was waking everyone else up. The next thing he did was do mental training before moving onto organizing several things or assignments for the Gears. He eventually revealed what the threat was called to the two of them. Neither one were mad at him because they were too scared to be mad. Both of him and of the existence of the Locust. They wanted to know more about him, but knew that digging into his past was a minefield on its own.
"What's the status on the festival?" He asked as he drove on the road.
"Starts at noon tomorrow. Multiple Airbuses leave at ten in order to arrive at the stadium in a timely manner. A lot of people will be up there while the rest will be down here, probably watching from their homes or their scrolls." Blake answered.
"Alright." He nodded and listened to them report to him some more. Each piece of new information that was given to him was stored in the back of his head. He drove back to the safehouse while still listening to them and climbed out of the car. He unlocked it and entered it with them, seeing a dozen or so Gears inside already. Their eyes glued to him when he explained to the rest of them about the existence of the Locust. No one dared to interrupt him when he started to talk.
Some were terrified while others simply listened closely, the fear already beaten out of them. They were cautious and did their best to retain this information, feeling it would come in handy when dealing with the threat. Some of them had gotten the feeling that things were getting worse for some reason, an unknown sense of dread bubbling up in their systems. When he was done, they started asking questions. Some were personal, which he ignored, while the others were more information about the Locust.
He gave them the basics about the Locust and the best way to kill them. No mercy was to be given to them because they would not shred a single ounce of it. They were crafty and ruthless, which is why he was training his Gears to be ruthless as well.
A couple hours went by and he dismissed them, each one leaving with a new feeling. Some felt a wave of terror flood through their system while others focused and hardened themselves for the eventual emergence. They didn't know how to feel about him though, but he made it clear he didn't care. Some of them felt that he had lied to them and tried to call him out, but he fired back and told them to tell their deepest secrets. When no one said anything, he told them to keep their mouth shut about him and focus on the new threat.
They didn't know anything about his life though and he'd keep it like that. He just revealed that they were there to kill Locust, maintain their position and power, and go home at the end of the day. What they did in their own time was none of his concern, and the same applied for them. No one needed to know his past and he'd leave this place behind once he was sure every Grub was six feet under and found a way home.
After a while, it was just him, Blake, and Jaune. The three originals stuck in an uncomfortable silence before he turned away. They had to be up bright and early tomorrow morning. The stress was finally catching up to him and it hit him like a truck, causing him to fall asleep almost instantly. The other two just looked at him for a while before shaking their heads and falling asleep as well, trying to steel themselves for the upcoming storm ahead. Neither one of them really slept too well for the next few hours.
To see the fire burning through the air, gunfire echoing across the distance, people dying left and right, and reptilian abominations giving their dreadful war cries.
The three of them kept a bird's eye view from the buildings. He spotted a few of his Gears in the alleyways, giving signals before disappearing back into the shadows. He had to duck a bit when a squad of Atlas personal patrolled the street. They didn't know the Gears were in the city and it would remain that way until the festival was over and everyone left. He had a feeling that the Locust would attack sooner or later. All it took was one Drone's findings to alert the whole horde and then they started to plan.
They scouted, planned, prepared, dug, and finally emerged at certain locations. Corpsers dug the tunnels and eventually opened up a hole in the ground, allowing the rest of the abominations flood the surface. The most people could do was avoid the hole and get as far away from it as possible. Even back on Sera, there wasn't a way to tell when or where an emergence hole would pop up. No way to counter it either.
"Heads up, Atlas aerial vehicle above." He called out towards Blake and Jaune. Both ducked down low when it passed over them and watched it soar off into the distance. They stood up and waved at him while he just did the same, keeping an eye out.
"Boss, the Taylors made it safe to the colosseum." One of the Gears informed.
"Good. If shit hits the fan, I want them on the first safe transport." He said.
"Copy." The Gear responded. The connection was cut and he continued to patrol around the city with the other two. They all fall into a rhythm of informing one another when something new popped up. He could hear the cheers from the crowd below as they watched the students from the various academies fight one another. His thoughts drifted a bit to what it would be like had he joined that damned academy. Telling his secrets, trying to act like the coolest kid around, and other unnecessary things. He wasn't some hero or even a savior.
The only thing that came to his mind was that he wasn't a good person, someone who got too curious for his own good. Now, he was lost on some godforsaken world with an enemy that had been plaguing his home for almost twenty years, possibly longer. He did his part on Sera, but now he had to do more with Remnant. Maybe this was his form of punishment for not listening and wandering off. A part of him wondered if this was some cruel joke by some god or something.
It wasn't very funny in his opinion.
He snapped his head forward when he saw Jaune on his scroll, leaning on the edge of the building he was on. His eyes narrowed when he saw the blonde smiling at the team that he was supposed to be assigned to. There was a small chunk of the roof missing and he grabbed a small piece. He aimed it at Jaune and threw the chunk with all his might, watching it sail through the air and smack Jaune in the side of the head. A loud ring was heard and he saw Jaune fall backwards when the hard object hit his helmet.
"Can you record the match?" Walker asked as he stared across the street onto the other roof.
"U-Uh... I-I mean..." Jaune gulped.
"Pay attention, dumbass. If you can record it then watch it later." Walker shook his head. Jaune sheepishly rubbed his neck and nodded before keeping an eye out once more, occasionally glancing back at Walker to see if he was still looking at him.
"It's going to get dark in a few hours, you think we should head back soon?" Blake asked.
"No. We'll remain out here. Get something to eat before returning to your patrol routes or guarding stations, everyone." He said into the private channel. There was the sound of combined voices before it went silent. He just sat on the edge of a building and looked down at the people below. His leg dangled off the edge and he rested his arm on his knee. Blake saw him and jumped towards him, landing quietly and stood next to him.
It was quiet for the next few minutes and she looked at him, sighing a bit before sitting next to him.
"Do you think they'll attack?" She asked.
"I know they will. Bastards usually attack where there are a lot of people." He answered.
"In a horde, right?" She asked.
"Yeah. They tend to overwhelm their victims quickly." He said, bringing out some binoculars and looking at the distance.
"You mentioned that they were smart. How smart are they?" She asked.
"They can reverse engineer things they collect from the surface. I'm not taking chances should they get into Michael's company building." He said.
"Oh..." She stopped quickly.
"Michael and his company are top priority assets. If they start making their way there then Hal is going to pull the files. If they storm the building looking for resources, we torch it and move the personal to the new base." He informed.
"What makes you think they'll attack during the festival?" She asked.
"It's a major gathering. Chances are they already found out in the past." He sipped from his canteen.
"How?" She asked.
"Probably from the people they kidnapped or they just heard word. I wouldn't put it past them if they sent one and it alerted the rest of the horde." He answered.
"How long do you think they've been here?" She asked.
"Probably years, I don't know and I don't give a shit." He shrugged. That was a lie because he did actually care and want to know. He needed to find out how complex their tunnels were, if it ran through only a small part or the whole planet. From what he's heard, settlements have gone missing in the past, which meant this had been going on for a while. He wondered if they were trying a new tactic, instead of going all out and overwhelming the surface, they were slowly dismantling them.
"Have you eaten?" She asked.
"No." He shook his head.
"Alright, I'm going to grab something then." She said before jumping off the side of the building. He heard her catch the fire escape, slowing her fall before landing on the ground and walked out towards the street. For the next several minutes, he was just by himself, thinking about the different outcomes that could happen. There would be death. It was something that was to be expected when dealing with them, he just hoped he could at least mitigate some of it.
Several minutes passed by and Blake returned to his side, handing him a sandwich. He just quietly ate it while staring at the city with her. It wasn't long before the other Gears returned to their positions. He swung his legs back over and plopped down onto the roof before thanking her for the food.
"Where would we expect the attack?" She asked.
"I can't give you a good answer. They could emerge anywhere at anytime. The most we can do is get the civilians to safety before trying to deal with them." He shook his head.
"You think our auras will help?" She asked.
"I don't know. The most it would do is help your strength a bit, but it wouldn't do a damn thing against their ammunition. It's why I don't want any of the others to screw around when it comes to them. They'll kill the very first person they see without a shred of remorse." He answered.
"What about the Huntsmen and Huntresses?" Jaune asked as he climbed up the fire escape and walked towards them.
"The hell are you doing here?" Walker asked.
"I saw you two talking and wanted to know what it was about." Jaune answered.
"The Locust. To answer your question about the Huntsmen and Huntresses... they're not our priority. The civilians and Taylor's technology is." Walker answered.
"You're willing to sacrifice lives for technology?" Jaune asked.
"No, but if they get their hands on it, we're screwed. The Grubs tend to take the spoils of war. You leave a gun to them, they'll turn around and use it right on you half a second later." Walker said.
"But we should prioritize lives over the tech though." Jaune argued.
"I'm not saying we shouldn't but the civilians and that technology are our top priorities. I could give a damn about the Huntsmen or Huntresses." Walker said back.
"That's kind of shitty of you." Jaune commented.
"Oh, it's shitty of me because I know how they are? It's shitty of me because I'm taking the necessary precautions to try and keep as many people from dying later on down the road? Forgive me for being a shitty person, Arc." Walker gestured towards himself.
"Alright, stop. Arguing isn't going to get us anywhere." Blake stood between the two. They stared at one another before Jaune turned away and went back to his original spot. Walker just stared at him go before scoffing and shaking his head.
"Sometimes I regret keeping his ass with us." He said before looking over the street again.
"Just... stop, okay? We'll figure it out when they eventually come, alright?" She asked.
"That's if the dumbass won't fuck everything up." He said.
"He's stressed, we all are." She said.
"I'm stressed too, but you don't see me letting it affect anything. He hasn't done a single thing to try and help out, all he does it sit there on his fucking scroll." He pointed, she followed his finger and saw him on his scroll.
"I'll talk to him later, but none of us help out because you don't want us to. Every time we try, you just tell us to go do something else or that you have it handled." She countered. His mouth opened but snapped shut when he did consider what she said. He had been pushing people away recently and used his work as an excuse to avoid them confronting him. It wasn't entirely his fault though; he needed to take every precaution so that they could come out on top and survive till the next day.
"Go talk to him then." He sighed and waved his hand. She just shook her head before jumping across the rooftops to reach Jaune, leaving him alone with his thoughts. None of them seemed to understand the cost of not being prepared. The consequence of not being ready meant death and he'd be damned if he died. His time on the Sovereign had shown him that even the mighty COG could fall and be left in shambles. They weren't fighting for resources, but simply to make it to the next day against an unrelenting foe.
He needed something to blow off steam, his anger was building up to a volatile level and the last thing he needed was to snap at one of his own.
They had to get off the rooftops when several Bullheads passed overhead. The sky was getting dark at this point and they were in the safehouses, sifting through the CCTV camera feed. Money talked and paying the right amount allowed a few of his Gears to have more surveillance, keeping him updated. Blake had calmed Jaune down a bit and the he tried to apologize to Walker. At first, it seemed his apology patched things up, but Walker just claimed it didn't and he didn't care. The other two saw that he didn't care about their apologies and worries and cared more about results.
"Are you-" Blake started.
"If you ask me if I'm alright then leave." He interrupted. His tone was somewhat harsh and it made her stop.
"We're just worried is all." She straightened herself a bit.
"You two can be worried once we go back to the settlement. For now, just focus on the task at hand." He said. Nothing else was said and she gave a hesitant nod before backing away from him. He sighed before stepping out of the safe house and out onto the street again. People seemed to ignore him for the most part, lumping him with one of the fighters from the academies. Others looked at his odd appearance before dismissing him like some of the others.
Blake seemed to understand the gravity of the situation a little bit more than Jaune did. The foolish knight didn't seem to want to understand that what he was doing would get people killed. It was noble in some cases, but now wasn't the time to be overly emotional. If Jaune wanted to continue being in the Gears, he had to come to terms that people would die and it was unavoidable sometimes. Not everyone could be saved and that was the harsh reality of the world.
It was a lesson the COG beat into him during basic, and Nash beat it into him further when he tried to do something stupid. Jaune was like Walker when he was green as grass; young, eager to prove himself, felt that he could take on the world, and other things. He was a hopeful idiot that thought everyone could be saved and nothing could go wrong. The only problem was that it wasn't like this, their existence was a cruel one that would swallow them up if they weren't careful.
At this point, Walker wasn't out to save the world, but merely save what was left when the emergence happened. It was all he could do at this point; damage control. Sure having his own military power was nice, but he didn't really have anyone to call family with the exception of Hal. He started to miss Sera more and more as days started to pass by. It hit him like a ton of bricks when the crushing thought of never seeing his home again dawned on him. Him and Ajay were the only reasons his grandfather continued living. The man had gone through the ringer of losing his son, daughter-in-law, and other loved ones over the course of the Pendulum and Locust war.
That didn't include Nash, Kelly, Fred, and Amelia. They probably went looking for him after finding out he went missing. They all had been through hell together and they knew he wouldn't just abandon them for no reason. God... he was such a selfish idiot. He should have listened to Nash when he told him to go to bed. Otherwise, he would have been finding a new place to live rather than being stuck on this backwater shithole.
He didn't care about Remnant, while the people were odd and interesting, he didn't care too much about them in the end. He didn't even know why he was even trying to help them when they had done nothing for him all that much. Maybe it was because the Locust were here and he had the instinct to end their existence... maybe it was because he knew deep down that this was all he knew how to do. Besides tinkering with Hal, he couldn't do anything else but fight; a part of him was almost scared to go to a peaceful life after all the shit he went through.
There were times when a part of him wondered if he simply survived just to thrive off conflict. Something was wrong with him... decent people aren't like this. There were worse people than he was, but he felt that he was the worst scum on the planet sometimes.
His thoughts were interrupted when a Gear approached him, she was one of his more loyal Gears. She was one of the loner types of people, never staying in one spot for very long but decided to stay at the settlement. He found out that she had been out in the wild for the past several months and knew about surviving out there than a majority of the others. The two of them found a mutual respect for one another; while she knew more about survival than him, he gave her a foundation to better use those skills.
After a while, she decided to stay and became a Gear. His teachings earned him respect from her and she often found her reciting them in her downtime. Catherine, often called Red by her very few companions, and Blake were his eyes and ears. The only difference was that Blake was better with people than Catherine was; the latter found solitude as more of a faithful companion.
"Where's Blake and Jaune?" She asked. Her tone was somewhat cold, but he didn't mind it. It was sometimes hard for her to openly display her emotions and she felt relieved that he understood that. Amelia was the same way so he was used to it.
"At the safehouse, I needed some fresh air." He answered.
"I take it that they're not seeing eye to eye with you?" She asked.
"Blake more than Jaune." He said.
"He seems like the bleeding heart kind of guy." She commented.
"He's an idiot at times, but yeah." He agreed. They walked together and easily weaved their way through the crowd. Despite him telling her otherwise, he knew she wasn't going to take off that red coat of hers. It fit snugly underneath her armor but did little to deter her. They turned when they saw Blake approach them and he noticed Jaune wasn't with her.
"Jaune's on patrol with some of the other Gears, in case you're wondering." Blake said.
"Good." He said and looked forward.
"How's patrol been, Red?" Blake asked.
"Nothing to report. Went through a scuffle though." She answered, flipping her knife a few times.
"Did you kill them?" He asked.
"No." She shook her head.
"Good, we don't need any unnecessary trouble." He said. They walked some more and the other two talked while he just listened quietly. He just simply enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere a bit before noticing Velvet and her team. She didn't seem to notice him until the last second, but he was already several feet away. They looked in the direction she was looking and saw her looking at him.
Red looked at Velvet and stared into her eyes, causing the rabbit Faunus to lower her ears a bit. That stare was a cold one and it triggered Velvet's fight or flight instincts within a few seconds. The rest of Velvet's team stared at Red, slowly making their way towards them.
"There's a girl staring at us." She said.
"I know, it's Richard's daughter. Leave them." Walker said and continued to walk. She looked at them one last time before turning around and ignoring their existence. Blake noticed they stopped following them and sighed in relief. They talked a bit more before deciding to go back to the safe house.
Blake stopped dead in her tracks and they looked at her. Just before he could ask something, she held her hand up. Her ears flicked a bit and she looked ahead. There was a low rumbling noise that made her tilt her head in confusion. Red heard it too and she looked in the same direction as Blake before he did the same.
"Do you hear that? It's like a low... rumbling noise." Red said.
"From where?" He asked, his muscles tensing tightly.
"From below." Blake pointed downwards.
They yelped in surprise when he grabbed them by their collars and dragged them into the alley across the street. Just before they could say anything, they stumbled in place when the ground started to rumble. It soon turned to violent shaking and a sudden explosion rang across the air. Six massive legs burst from the ground and slammed onto the ground. The shockwave knocked countless people over and even killed some that were caught in the initial emergence. A loud screech tore through the air and people screamed at the sudden appearance.
He grunted as he moved a dumpster for cover as a flood of Wretches and Drones poured out of the hole. Vicious screeching and snarls were heard and the sound of gunfire was heard shortly after. Countless people screamed in terror as a wave of abominations started to swarm the surface, killing anything that resembled a human.
"Boss, what the hell are these things?!" A Gear shouted over the comms. There was gunfire in the background and the angry snarling of the Locust.
"Start defending the civilians! Get as many people as you can away from the holes!" He ordered. They barely got a word out before the feed was interrupted by more gunfire. The other two looked at him and quickly ran with him through the alleyways, taking multiple twists and turns through the urban jungle. They needed to get a bit further away from the hole, it was too large for them to seal it with a grenade.
Blake's eyes widened when she saw a Drone step over a person and quickly crush their skull underneath its boot. It laughed sadistically before roaring and lifting its weapon, firing at some more people.
"Oh my god." She stepped back.
"I need you two up there!" He snapped them out of their stupor. They saw him clasp his hands together and nodded before stepping on his hands and jumping up. He watched them fly through the air and climb up the fire escape quickly.
"What about you?" Red asked.
"I'll be fine, just get a bird's eye view of the situation and be careful. Snipers might be up there picking people off. If there is, take them out and pick some of the bastards off if you can. Don't stay in one place too long." He ordered. They nodded and disappeared over the rooftops while he just pulled out his Lancer and took cover near a corner. He saw a wave of Locust charge through the street and decided to let them pass a bit more, or until they gave him an opening.
Once enough of them had passed by, he brought out a grenade and threw it while dashing across the street. It flew through the air and landed in a group of them, making a few of them shout in alarm. He was already in the other alley when it detonated. The explosion ripped several of their bodies apart, scattering their organs and appendages into separate directions. Several turned in his direction and started to head his way, causing him to retreat further down the alleyway and take cover behind one of the buildings.
When they were coming closer, he breathed deeply before leaning around the corner and firing. The rounds impacted a few of their bodies and caused them to fall to the ground dead. The other three took cover and snarled at him. He had to draw his body back into cover when the Hammerburst rounds either hit the corner or flew past him. A roar was heard and one of them charged at him, making him switch to his sawed-off and fire it when the Grenadier rushed around the corner.
Blood splattered across the walls as the shotgun ripped its body apart, causing wet chunks of flesh to impact the ground. He cringed a bit when a chunk of flesh hit his arm and slid off of it, but he forced himself to ignore the feeling. The other two fired some more at him but he ducked and killed the one furthest away. Its body dropped and it gave a dying gurgle before the last one gave a wrathful roar. He dove backwards when it dashed towards him while recklessly firing.
A Hammerburst round hit his armored chest and made him grunt. He leaned out of the way when it swung at him and revved up the chainsaw. The teeth easily cut through its hardened skin and tore through its flesh. Blood flew through the air as he forced the bayonet down its body; feeling bone splinter and break while organs turned to mush. He cut all the way through and watched as its bisected corpse fall into different directions.
"Boss, the Taylors are secure." A Gear informed.
"Bring them to one of the safehouses. Keep them there and kill any Locust you see before looking for survivors." He ordered.
"On it." They cut the feed shortly after.
"Jaune." Walker called out. He didn't hear anything after calling out for him and he shook his head in anger, deciding now wasn't the time to be worried about him. The most he could do at the moment was pick Locust off and find any survivors. He had to ignore the countless people dead at his feet and continue moving forward.
Blake and Red ducked behind the edge of a rooftop, wincing when a chunk of it flew off. Blake raised her personal weapon and used it as a distraction, drawing the Sniper's attention. It fired at her and gave Red enough time to aim at its head and squeeze the trigger. The sniper round flew through the air and killed the enemy sniper, causing its head to explode and body to crumble shortly after.
"Have any of you heard from Jaune?" His voice came onto the radio.
"No." Blake answered.
"Shit... alright... you two see anymore up there?" He asked.
"We dealt with a lot of snipers, but nothing else." Red answered as she looked around.
"See if you can make your way towards... seventh... street-" He said. The communication started to scramble and they heard gunfire on the other end before it went quiet, causing them to look at one another before rushing towards his location. Both of them could easily clear rooftops quickly and decided not to pay too much attention to the bodies that littered the street. The metallic scent of blood filled their nostrils but they forced themselves to ignore it. So many bodies within the last half an hour and it was only getting worse.
"Blake!" Red called out and pointed towards an oncoming Bullhead. Both girls saw it fly towards them but something flew through the sky and hovered for a quick second. It made a loud screeching noise before barreling towards the Bullhead and crashing into it. It caught on fire and started to spin out of control before spiraling towards them, making them dive out of the way.
There was faint screaming coming from the vehicle before it crashed and slid off the building. It turned into a fiery inferno when it exploded and illuminated the area. The people inside that survived the crash were stuck inside, banging on the door as they burned alive. Both of them had to turn away and force themselves to come to terms that the people were gone. The banging stopped and the civilians inside slid down as the fires claimed their lives. They needed to find Walker soon, seeing how he was the only one who knew how to deal with the Locust.
They continued to jump across the rooftops and eventually found him in a small park. He was pinned down near a group of civilians while a couple of injured Gears were next to him. Locust fired at the group and were slowly swarming them, but he managed to keep them off. It seemed like he was killing a substantial amount, but more just kept pouring in.
Blake stayed on the current rooftop while Red jumped to another and aimed her rifle. The two of them took several Locust by surprise and managed to kill them quickly, causing them to take the aggression. It was the breathing room Walker needed before he started to kill more Locust. Two crumbled to the ground when he shot several rounds into their skulls while another three died when he tossed a grenade at them.
Both girls picked off the ones that were hidden behind cover, taking potshots at them and causing their heads to explode in a shower of gore. The last one roared and tried to move away, but Walker shot its legs and rushed up to it. He kicked it in its stomach before revving up the chainsaw and slamming it into its gut. The teeth mutilated its insides and he ripped it out with a loud, tearing noise. Blood dripped off his weapon and he wiped some of it off himself before looking around.
It went quiet and the area was clear for the time being, but they could still hear gunfire. He motioned for them to come down and watched as they jumped off, using the edges of the windows and pipes to slow their descent. They quickly approached him as he looked at the injured Gears and wrapped their legs in bandages.
"These two aren't going anywhere." He told them.
"I-I can... I can still fight." A Gear grabbed his arm.
"You can't do much fighting in this condition. I need you two to escort us to the safehouse." He said to them.
"The areas swarming with them and we can't reach anyone else." Red said.
"Seeders are jamming our communications. Help me get to the safehouse and we'll deal with the Seeders." He told them. They nodded and he picked up a Gear, throwing him over his shoulder while gripping the second one's collar. Blake led them while Red remained in the back. He grunted as he carried the two through the alleyways and led the civilians to safety.
"Where the hell is Atlas?" A civilian asked, eyes darting around quickly.
"I don't know! They should be defending us like they said they would! Why aren't they here?" Another one panted.
"They're probably at another location. Stop talking though, we don't need the Grubs to hear us." Walker whispered to them, shutting them up instantly. They had to hide when a massive Locust patrol marched through the street, searching around for more people. The group went quiet for nearly half an hour before they moved from their location to the next. He was tired from carrying them, but couldn't stop now.
They finally arrived at the safehouse and he kicked the door a few times. It went silent before it cracked open and he saw one of his Gears, they breathed in relief and let them inside. He grunted as he carried the two and set the first one on the cot before doing the same with the second one. There were more than two dozen civilians inside and several Gears.
"Boss, you heard from the others?" One of them asked.
"No. Seeders are jamming us and we need to find them." He said before going towards one of the ammo crates and grabbing some. He ejected the empty magazine before loading a fresh one in. The blood was cleaned off his Lancer while Blake and Red collected some more ammunition.
"Have any of you seen Jaune?" Blake asked.
"Blondie? Last I saw, he was escorting civilians and helping some Huntsmen and Huntresses." One of the injured Gears answered.
"That stupid-" Walker started.
"Thanks. We'll deal with it later, we have to find him." Blake put a hand on his shoulder.
"You two, you're with us." Walker pointed towards two of the Gears.
"Us?" One of them asked.
"Who else?" Walker stepped towards him.
"R-Right!" The Gear nodded.
"The rest of you, don't let any Locust inside. You see Locust or looters then you kill them, understand?" He asked them.
"Yes, sir!" The nodded.
"Good, let's move." He said then headed back outside with the others. The civilians were huddled in their little groups, keeping quiet as possible while the healthy Gears guarded the entrance. It was silent for the most part and the only sound was the distant gunfire and the groaning of the injured inside their little safe haven.
They found the first Seeder after searching for half an hour. The others felt a wave of disgust flood their systems as they watched it launch Nemacysts into the sky. There were Locust surrounding it. Each of them spread out and waited for his signal before breaking the windows and firing at the Locust. The Drones were taken by surprise and quickly fell with dying gurgles. They surrounded the Seeder and he grabbed his grenade, making two others do the same before throwing it into the Seeders second mouth.
The explosions ripped its internal organs apart and caused it to slink back into the ground.
"That's one down, we need to find the other one." He told them.
"What the fuck are these things?" One of them asked.
"Abominations. Let's go though, we're wasting time." He said. They followed him through the streets, killing whatever groups of Locust that stood in their way before seeing something launch in the sky. It hovered in the air and he pointed in the direction, eventually finding the Seeder's location. They took cover behind some rubble and saw countless bodies litter the area.
A pack of wretches gorged themselves on a civilian's body, their razor sharp teeth easily stripping away chunks of flesh. Blood dribbled off their claws before one of them stopped and sniffed the air for a second, then went back to feasting on the body. One of the Gears tossed a grenade at the pack and it exploded shortly after.
"Ground walkers!" A Drone snarled. It was a deep malevolent voice that grated their ears and sent a shiver down their spines; all it did was make him hate them more. The Hammerburst rounds flew past them and they winced a bit before peeking from cover and firing at a few of them.
"Grind!" A Grinder shouted as it stomped towards them and they heard the sound of a Mulcher spinning. The ground shook as it stomped closer and continued to fire at them while laughing deeply. He brought out his sawed-off and readied it as soon as it approached them. When it rounded the corner and turned towards them, he aimed the gun at its face and squeezed the trigger.
The recoil made him jerk back but the weapon did its job in turning the fat Locust into a pile of gore. Its corpse shook the ground and he grabbed the Mulcher, grunting as he hefted it up and slammed it over the cover. The rest peeked up and fired when he started to spin the crank and fire at the group of Drones. They fell backwards as the heavy gatling gun ripped them apart.
The area was clear and he carried the Mulcher in his left hand while his right brought out a grenade. They did the same thing with this Seeder like they did with the last and threw the explosives in its second mouth. It screeched a bit before dying and sinking back into its hole. He looked around and grabbed a few grenades off a dead Grenadier then threw another grenade into the hole, sealing it up.
The communication cleared up and he heard the other Gears talking with one another. Jaune's voice popped up on the radio, he sounded in pain and there was gunfire in the background.
"Walker... I need... help." He wheezed.
"Where are you?" Walker asked.
"Main street... there's a lot of people and those things here." Jaune wheezed out again.
"Alright, we'll be there soon." Walker said.
"Hurry..." Jaune coughed. It fell silent shortly after and he quickly turned to the others.
"Double time it!" Walker ordered quickly. They ran after him as they made their way towards Jaune's location. More bodies littered the street and sidewalk; Huntsmen, Huntresses, Atlas personal, and civilians of all ages lied in a pool of their own blood. He forced himself to ignore it while the others let their eyes linger for a few seconds before turning away.
Jaune held the stump where his right leg used to be and tears dripped down his face. He was in so much pain right now and the only reason he wasn't dead was because his aura managed to stop the blood loss enough for them to bandage his leg. The bullets whistled past his head as the group he was with took cover. He wasn't paying attention and didn't see a Wretch lunge towards him, it managed to maul his leg and didn't stop as he kicked it numerous times. It only stopped when he emptied half the magazine into its body, but by that time the damage was already done.
He broke off from his group thinking he could protect everyone. All it did was prove that he was a fool and now he lost his leg and was practically dead weight as the Gears and students from Beacon fought to keep him alive. The Gears were managing, it seems that Walker's harsh training had paid off in the end, but the students were struggling more often than not.
The Dust ammunition they used slowed the Locust down and only more high powered weapons could kill a Drone or two. The Gears' weapons on the other hand did their job in punching through the Locusts' thick hide, detonating shortly after to kill them quicker.
The group was slowly being overran as more of the horde seemed to come up out of the woodworks. Those malevolent laughs and angry snarls started to get louder and they swore the ground started to shake from the mass of feet hitting it. He grabbed his Lancer and started to fire blindly over the cover, hoping he at least did something other than sit here like a coward. The other Gears looked at one another and felt their hopes start to diminish as the horde converged on them.
"Grenade!" A Drone shouted in alarm before a series of explosions were heard. The group looked up at the buildings to see more Gears throw grenades at the horde and thin their numbers a bit. They turned to look behind them to see Walker running with his body tucked in then slam into cover next to Jaune. While the students were slightly confused, the Gears felt a wave of relief flood their bodies.
"You're a fucking dumbass!" Walker shouted over the gunfire as he glared at Jaune. While he would commend the blonde for keeping the few people alive, he suffered a lost limb as the consequence.
"I know, I'm sorry!" Jaune apologized. They saw Walker stand up and grunt before slamming the Mulcher onto the cover and spin the crank. The barrage of bullets sped through the air and he started to sweep the area. The Locust that were too close ended up having their bodies turned to a pile of meaty chunks of gore while the ones further away fell back with holes in the bodies. He narrowed his eyes when they started to fall back while Blake and Red picked off several Drones and Grenadiers with their snipers.
The group started to advance while the Locust retreated back into their holes, sealing them up with their own explosions. He narrowed his eyes as the last of them were finally back underground and he looked at the battlefield, seeing a mass of bodies litter the street. It was hard to walk fifteen feet without encountering either a Grub or a person. He didn't say anything but just walked back to the group, keeping his Lancer out still.
"Holy shit... we beat them?" One of them asked.
"No, we didn't. They let us live for some reason. What's the status on the others?" He asked, ignoring the student.
"A lot of Gears got hurt, but alive. Can't really tell you how many civilians died and I don't know where the fuck Atlas is." A Gear answered, wiping off some of the soot from his chest.
"Excuse me..." A voice called out.
"There's also the fact that there's no telling how many people were injured. Probably more dead than injured at this point." Another Gear informed.
"Excuse me." The same voice said once more.
"Two of you contact the settlement to check up on their status. We might need to move sooner than expected." He ordered, the select two nodded and got on the radio to contact their home.
"Excuse me!" The voice shouted.
"Oh for fuck's sake... what?!" He shouted at the person. He saw it was the girl in the red cloak staring at him. Her face was dirty and her clothes looked like they had been through the ringer while her silver eyes looked stressed, scared, and tired.
"Who are you guys?" She asked.
"Don't worry about it for now." He answered. Jaune accepted his extended hand and he lifted him over his shoulders, causing the blonde to yelp in pain.
"I mean, we kind of have to worry when these things pop up out of the ground and some unknown group kill them easily." A girl said. He turned to her and immediately knew who she was; her face was well known across Remnant through her father. Weiss Schnee, daughter of Jacques Schnee and Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company.
"They weren't easy to kill." He responded before turning away and walking towards the safehouse.
"Yeah right, our weapons barely did a thing but you all come in and kill them like we would Grimm." She said.
"She has a point." Jaune said.
"You shut up." Walker said.
"People are going to ask questions about us, Boss." A Gear said as he covered them.
"I don't care. You get a hold of the settlement?" Walker asked.
"They said they were fine, but don't know what's going on." He answered.
"I'll tell them when we get back." Walker said.
"So we taking them back to Beacon?" Jaune asked.
"No, they'll go to the safehouse and stay there until they get picked up. The rest of us are searching for survivors." Walker answered.
"What about me?" Jaune asked.
"Does it look like you would be any use right now?" Walker asked.
"... No..." Jaune said quietly.
"Then you're staying with them. You're not much use if you can't even walk." Walker said evenly. The others winced at the comment while Jaune just shrunk in on himself.
"That wasn't cool." Velvet's teammate said.
"I don't care if it wasn't cool. You really think he'd be any use right now? He can't walk and apparently he can't even listen." Walker said back.
"I just-" Jaune tried to say.
"You just what? Just tried to be a hero when I told you months ago to stop? This isn't a fairy tale, Arc. I told you to get those civilians to safety and not split up with your group and what did you do?" Walker asked as he set Jaune down and stared at him.
"They got to safety though." Jaune argued.
"That's because Bravo squad was in the area. I told you that those people were priority number one and you nearly let them die because you wanted to assist some fucking academy students. What would you do if those people died under your care? You think you could handle the guilt that some people that couldn't fight died because you wanted to be a hero?" Walker asked.
"..." Jaune just looked away but Walker gripped his forehead and made him look at him.
"I told you when I first took you under my wing that I would cut you loose if you started slipping. You're slipping mighty hard, Arc." Walker said.
"I'm sorry." Jaune said quietly.
"Stop being sorry and start improving or you go home." Walker said harshly and shook his head. The others just remained quiet before following him towards the safehouse. He knocked roughly three times before seeing someone crack it open and stare at him.
"What's the password?" They said.
"The password is I'll kick your damn teeth in if you don't open the door." He said bitterly.
"Jeez alright, I was only joking." The person muttered. He scoffed and frowned a bit when they slowly opened the door, making him slam his foot against it. It scared the occupants inside and he stormed in while the others followed shortly after. Red was the last one in and she shut the door before locking it and going towards the workbench to clean her sniper.
Blake just took her helmet off and shook her hair before letting her ears flick a bit. She sighed in relief and went to the bench with Red while Walker made his way over to them.
"Good work out there." He commented.
"Thanks." Red said, cleaning her sniper while humming a tune.
"We need to rest." She whispered to him while staring at everyone.
"Can't. Not yet at least." He shook his head.
"Walker, everyone's nearly at their limit and I can tell you are too." She said. He just looked away and she set her hand on his shoulder before he sighed and nodded. It was true, he was tired. While he did prevent some deaths, there was no way to keep everyone alive and there were still a lot of people missing.
"Atlas should still be out there." He said.
"That's what I'm wondering. If they were out there then why didn't we see them?" Red turned to them and leaned against the bench.
"I don't know. You think they pulled out?" He asked.
"Don't think so. They're too prideful to do that." Blake shook her head.
"Students approaching on your six." Red informed before turning back to the bench. The two saw them and sighed before Blake patted his shoulder and took off, but he just gripped the back of her collar and kept her next to him. She left a clone in her spot before he spotted her across the room; he just glared at her smug expression before shaking his head. When the group approached him, he just crossed his arms and looked at each one.
"Is my dad okay?" Velvet asked.
"Yeah, he's with your mom out in the settlement." Walker answered. He's met Velvet a few times now through Richard, but their interactions were always short. She was busy at Beacon while he was busy working.
"Wait... Vel, you know this guy?" Her teammate asked.
"He's the one who's been guarding my dad and got him the job at Mr. Taylor's company. I told you this, Coco." Velvet said.
"Your dad left two days ago. He worked on some of our vehicles before I had him escorted back." He told her.
"Oh thank god." She breathed in relief.
"Have you talked to him yet?" He asked.
"No, we couldn't reach anyone earlier." She said.
"Communications should be clear now." He told her and watched as she excused herself and started to call him. Before any of them could ask him anymore questions, a Gear called him over and he made his way over to them. They turned up the radio loud enough for everyone to hear and they all listened closely. News about an unknown species that dwelled underground stormed the surface, killing anyone in their way and destroying or stealing whatever they could get their hands on.
It happened all over the world and Vacuo was the first kingdom to fall due to lack of military force. Settlements were destroyed in the stronger kingdoms and Atlas had pulled its forces back to defend their kingdom.
"That explains why the whole damn fleet wasn't here." A Gear mentioned.
"Shh." He hushed them and turned the volume up. A rise in Grimm activity had caused several more settlements to fall and he clenched his fists a bit while some of the other civilians huddled closer together. It went quiet when the messages were finished and everyone stared at the radio.
"What's the plan?" A Gear asked.
"Get these people situated and treated. Contact the other safehouses and tell them to do the same." He ordered.
"What about the Gears at the settlement?" Red asked, crossing one of her legs over the other.
"They're coming here to assist. Armadillos will be here to provide safe transport across the streets." He answered.
"What about us?" Coco asked and gestured towards them.
"What about you all?" He asked, grabbing some more ammunition.
"You expect us to just sit here and wait?" She asked.
"Yeah." He answered instantly.
"Screw that, we're Huntsmen and Huntresses. Like hell we're gonna-" She started to grab a weapon but was stopped by a Gear. They glared at her from their beneath their helmet while she just let her glasses slip a bit to look at them.
"I don't care what you are. I don't trust you all when it comes to this. These people need protection and I can't send all my forces to all the locations. If you want something to do then go deal with the Grimm." Walker said. It went quiet and Velvet just acted as a barrier between the two parties. She seemingly placated the mood and made everyone else understand a bit better.
From what she heard from her dad; the Gears were usually focused on the task and did what needed to be done in order to achieve their goal. On the other hand, she made it clear to Walker's party that they just wanted to help.
"We just want to help people." She said.
"... Call your Headmaster. In the meantime, go deal with the Grimm and help us look for civilians if you can." He said before nodding. The other Gears readied themselves before leaving shortly before him.
"Fine by me." Coco huffed.
"Let's make one thing clear though. These men and women... they're underneath my command, which means they're my responsibility. Anything happens to them and it's your asses on the line." He said evenly. It was an unspoken threat that some knew he would carry out.
"We'll make sure nothing happens to them." Velvet said.
"Good. I'll contact Richard later to make sure he's alright and have a few Gears to guard your family." He said before leaving. It went quiet and the rest of them looked back at the civilians, all terrified and full of despair. Some just kept quiet and seemed to shut down while others cried themselves to sleep after such a traumatic event. In the span of six hours, Remnant had faced an extinction level event that rivaled humanity's mass genocide several thousand years ago.
Walker motioned with his hands as an Armadillo scooped some rubble away, revealing a few civilians trapped inside. They pulled them out carefully one by one and had to pull a distraught husband away from some rubble when he saw his wife's arm sticking out from it. Her body was crushed underneath it all and the only thing that was able to be identified from her was her mutilated arm with their wedding ring on it.
He was loaded up into the Armadillo after grabbing the wedding ring along with some other survivors. They had been at this for the last several hours, looking for survivors and killing Tickers and Wretch packs that roamed the surface. A Gear stumbled across a family of four and turned away from the gruesome sight before following the others. People stared at the unknown party helping them and getting them to a safer area.
Walker walked alongside the Armadillos and civilian APCs, stopping every time they spotted a survivor or heard them trapped. It was a tedious thing to some, but the Gears found it necessary and did their best to account for all the injured or deceased. They had experienced the worst of it and fought in the thick and thin of the horde, pushing them back enough to see the next few hours. He knew that the Locust let them go willingly, they were merely testing the strength of Remnant before planning another violent attack.
He looked to his right when saw a group of teenagers come out of the alley and gestured for them to follow, waiting patiently for them to look around carefully before darting next to the Gears. They had to walk next to them since the transports were full and some of the Gears offered them snacks or a sip from their canteens. They were ruthless but they didn't throw away their humanities; because that meant they were no different from the Locust.
The group made it back to the camp and parked in different spots to let the civilians enter it, searching around for their loved ones. A list was being made and he motioned for the Gears to get some rest while he went to the list and looked at it. There were a lot of names and he didn't even try to read all of them because he could tell it soared into the tens of thousands already and would only continue to climb.
A few of the medical personal offered to check on him but he just waved them off and told them to tend to the others. With the exception of a few cuts, bruises, and a minor burn or two, he was fine. He sighed and rubbed his shoulder before spotting a Bullhead land. It was painted white and he rolled his eyes when he spotted a few individuals come out. The students poured out and looked around before spotting him and pointing at him, making him sigh. They walked up to him and carefully brushed passed the countless people and some stopped.
"I take it you're the one in charge of this group?" The man asked.
"I am." Walker nodded tiredly, he didn't want to deal with this at the moment.
"Pleasure to meet you, I'm-" The man stuck his hand out.
"I know who you are, Headmaster Ozpin. I also know of Professor Goodwitch, the second-in-command of Beacon academy. I also know of James Ironwood, the current General of the Atlas military." Walker interrupted. The three looked at one another before looking back at him. He was a muscular individual, a golden helmet that covered his entire head, a vicious looking assault rifle and a demented sawed-off.
"We received reports that an unknown party was seen fighting alongside our students. First, I'd like to thank you for keeping them safe and commend you for combating these..." Ozpin trailed off.
"Locust." He finished. At this point, he didn't care if people knew about the Locust, seeing how they made themselves known.
"Yes, Locust. If you would, would you be willing to discuss things in a more private place?" Ozpin asked.
"No, I'm not moving. Once we find the rest of the civilians and make sure everyone is situated, then we're leaving." Walker answered.
"Why? We have a lot to discuss about these creatures and you seem to know the most about them from what my students said." Ironwood said.
"I do know, but you're going to offer me a deal to work for you or force me to. I'm here to tell you that neither of those things are going to happen unfortunately." Walker said calmly.
"I heard you were a mercenary group. You'd do anything for a paycheck, right?" Another voice chimed in. Walker just raised his eyebrow and observed the man and dismissed him.
"Who's the hobo?" Walker asked them.
"Name's Qrow Branwen, asshole." Qrow said.
"We don't just do any job. Before we move on though, what do you want?" Walker asked.
"To discuss some things." Ozpin said.
"Enough with the cryptic bullshit. I got civilians to look for, Locust to kill, and places to be. Either you tell me what you want or I'm leaving." Walker said as he stood up.
"Since the three want to play word games, I'll be the one to tell you. We want you to help us learn about the threat." Glynda pinched the bridge of her nose. A few Gears flanked him and went behind the four, keeping their weapons low but ready.
"Tell your men to stand down." Ironwood said.
"They are, this is so you don't pull something." Walker dismissed.
"What are they?" Glynda asked, cutting through the hostilities. She wasn't in the mood to have the other three ruin their only source of information about this new threat. If the man wanted to, he could walk away and they'd be able to do nothing about it. His soldiers would kill them in an instant and from what she heard, they had explosive ammunition that could kill them before they could blink.
"They're called Locust. A race of sadistic underground dwellers that don't care who they kill." He answered.
"Where do they come from?" Ozpin asked.
"Underground, obviously." Walker rolled his eyes.
"What do they want?" Qrow asked.
"You really think I know? From this attack, probably to exterminate whatever life is on the surface." Walker answered.
"How can you tell when an attack is coming?" Ironwood asked.
"You don't." Walker answered instantly, it made the three of them freeze.
"What?" Glynda blinked.
"You don't know when they're going to pop up. If they want to be somewhere, then there's nothing you can do to stop them. The most you can do is seal up their holes with explosives or defend yourselves." He answered. If the COG couldn't find a way to counter a Locust emergence then Remnant wouldn't either. It's one advantage the Locust had over them, they could be anywhere at anytime.
"I find it suspicious you know so much about them." Ironwood said.
"I find it suspicious that Atlas was nowhere to be found when they attacked." Walker retorted.
"Boss has a point. Where were you guys?" A Gear asked before tilting his helmet up and spitting onto the ground.
"None of your concern, mercenary." Ironwood snapped.
"It's an honest question. From what I've gathered, you were supposed to provide additional security. Yet, my forces fended them off for the last several hours and suddenly you all show up." Walker gestured towards the Atlas personal. He noticed that a majority of their forces were androids and a couple dozen were actual men and women.
"We were busy with other matters." Ironwood said.
"If it wasn't Grimm then what was it?" Walker asked.
"Heard they were at Beacon." A civilian chimed in.
"I appreciate the information, but you should go lie back down. We can't have you ripping your stitches." Walker said politely as he guided the person back to their cot. He returned shortly after and sat back down at his seat. Nothing was said and he already knew the answer before shaking his head at them. Blake walked up to him and went close to where his ear was at before whispering to him. Ozpin and Glynda froze when they spotted her.
"Ms. Belladonna?" Glynda asked.
"Hello, you two..." Blake deadpanned. They noticed her eyes went bitter as she stared at them and was about to turn away but decided to stay. There was some resentment that they could detect despite her flat voice and they knew the reason why. They did unintentionally embarrass her in front of the first years by denying her. They wanted to apologize to her but she was already gone by the time they got the chance to.
"We're sorry-" Ozpin started.
"I don't care anymore." She interrupted. This time, she didn't even try to hide her resentment and it was clear that this wasn't the polite girl they met several months ago.
"Where's Red?" He asked.
"Getting something to eat." She answered.
"You get something yet?" He asked.
"Not yet. I'm grabbing something for Jaune too." She said.
"Mr. Arc is here too?" Glynda asked.
"Is that a problem?" Walker asked.
"What? No, we just... we expected..." She trailed off.
"For him to go home?" He finished.
"Yeah." She nodded and went quiet. He just looked at them before shaking his head and walking towards the medical tent. They followed him despite him telling them not to and they gasped when they saw his injured state. He looked down at his stump and winced before locking eyes with them and turning away.
"What happened to you?" Ozpin asked.
"None of your concern, now get out." Walker ordered and had them ushered out. When they didn't budge, several Gears surrounded them and forced them away and back to their own group. He just scoffed and Blake glared at them before her eyes softened when she saw other people in the tent. A few kids sat on the cots and she approached them, keeping them occupied. Some were confused as to where their families were while the younger ones giggled when she did something. The older ones knew why their families weren't with them; they were either dead or missing.
The healthy Gears would continue looking for survivors and retrieve any Locust weaponry before leaving and going back to the settlement. He needed to make more Mark II. Lancers and better armor if he wanted to be ready for another attack. That's also the fact that he still needed to discuss some things with people. He didn't feel like talking to the political leaders and powers right now because he was busy, and they picked the worst time to show up.
Just as he was about to leave, Blake came over holding a small child's hand. He just knelt down to his level and shook his hand, his entire hand engulfing the kid's hand and some of his wrist.
"Where's my mom and dad?" He asked.
"I'll look for them." Walker said.
"Pinky promise?" The boy asked.
"Pinky promise." Walker promised. The kid walked next to him as he walked towards the three from earlier. They looked at the kid and he brought him behind him a bit before bringing out his scroll.
"Have you considered our deal?" Ozpin asked.
"We never made a deal in the first place. I'm not going to lie to you... what we do is for the strictly business and for the survival of Remnant. You will not drag me into your problems unless they are Locust related. Any political related problems you have are none of my concern. If I do assist you, I expect some form of payment. Cheat me and I'll leave you to the Grubs. You spy on me or conspire against me and I'll take you all down one way or another." Walker explained.
"What if we don't agree to any of those terms?" Qrow asked.
"I don't care if you do or don't. There are people I'm looking after and I won't have some government spooks and a drunk screwing me over." Walker answered evenly.
"We won't." Glynda stood in front of the three before they could say anything foolish.
"We'll see. You picked a terrible time to discuss this. We'll discuss more next time and I expect payment." He started to walk away. The money was so that they could buy supplies and materials.
"What a prick..." Qrow whispered.
"Oh... and drunk..." Walker turned to Qrow.
"Yeah?" He asked, leaning back when Walker got close to him.
"Stop spying on us." He said.
"I wasn't." Qrow denied.
"Red's nose doesn't lie. You need to lay off the alcohol and cologne." Walker retorted before taking the kids hand again. He smiled down at the kid and swung his arm gently. It was like he was holding Ajay's hand again. He wondered how his little brother was...
This is probably the longest chapter yet but it had to be for this reason. It was literally the start of the Locust War on Remnant. I don't have much to say other than I think some people missed last chapter since it uploaded quicker than usual. So if this chapter confuses you, then the last one should provide some context. Other than that, sorry if the chapter isn't up to par or if some people leave. I understand if you do.
Some people might think Walker will give information about his life, to which I'll shut down and say no. He's not. The most information he'll give them is about the Locust and that's it. I'm not doing the whole "he tells everyone about his life and they pity him" thing.
As for the reviews, I do read them, every single one. I don't think I'll answer them this chapter though, I'm a little tired and my insomnia is coming back unfortunately. Anyways, I'm sure you all don't care so I won't say anymore.
I'd like to thank you for reading this and have a good one. See you guys later.