Walker and Red sat in a safe house, they had just got back from escorting the family of six and sat on the sofa. He leaned back and closed his eyes while she just sat next to him and played on her device. They both perked up when they heard footsteps outside the safehouse and they grabbed their sidearms.

She took cover behind the couch while he quietly went up to the door and aimed the Snub at it. He moved to the side and took cover against the wall, glancing at her and turning back to the door when she nodded.

"Who is it?" He asked when the people on the other side knocked.

"It's us." Blake's muffled voice answered.

"Who's with you?" He asked.

"Just Jaune." She answered.

"Come on in." Walker said as he opened the door and let them inside. They squeezed into the safe house and set their bags nearby then turned when the door was shut. It was locked securely and he went back to the couch before sitting back down.

He noticed that the atmosphere was a little uneasy and glanced at Jaune, seeing him look away in shame before glancing at Red to see her look away as well. When he looked at Blake, she just glanced at Jaune and he tilted his head. She just sighed and mouthed something before it clicked in his head.

"Jaune." Walker called out.

"Yeah?" He asked quietly.

"We're headed out for a bit." Walker said as he dusted himself off and stood up.

"We are?" Jaune asked.

"Yeah, let me show you around this shithole." Walker gave his shoulder a pat as he walked by. Jaune just looked at the other two before following him out the door as he put his coat on, leaving the girls alone.

They left the safehouse and walked for several minutes before they went into the frigid, downtrodden area of Mantle. The street lights above them flickered and buzzed every so often and Walker kicked a stray bottle, watching as it rolled down the street. Barely any souls were wandering the streets and the two found the silence almost welcoming.

Neither one knew how to start the conversation, but already knew what it was going to be about. Jaune didn't want to see the disappointed look on Walker's face; he didn't want to see the look he always held an instinctive fear of. Having Walker be disappointed in him hurt more than his family giving him that look. Despite not showing it, he could tell that his family wasn't always proud of him.

It was always something with them. One moment they weren't proud of him, then they weren't content with his achievements the very next moment. Pleasing them was borderline impossible and he eventually gave up on it. To see Walker be disappointed in him though? That hurt him on a spiritual level.

"Listen... I-" Jaune started.

"I'm not mad, Jaune. I'm not disappointed either." Walker said calmly as he continued to walk the street.

"You're not?" Jaune asked.

"I had a sneaking suspicion that she wasn't who she said she was." Walker answered.

"Why didn't you guys tell me?" Jaune asked.

"Jaune, we didn't tell you because you looked like you were enjoying yourself. We didn't want to ruin your time with her and decided to keep our mouths shut. Was it a bad idea? Probably, yeah... but we had your best intentions in mind." Walker explained as best he could. In hindsight, there was no reason that they couldn't tell Jaune and maybe it would spare him from the pain he was feeling.

"She could've gotten so many people killed. How could she do that?" Jaune asked.

"Ozpin's scheming perhaps. Despite the man wishing the best for humanity, he's pretty quick to jump the gun and make rash decisions." Walker answered.

"Why would he even put someone like her in that position?" Jaune asked.

"It's probably because he's a manipulative asshole. The point is that I'm not mad nor disappointed. Her being a spy was just proving my point that my suspicions about her were right. As Blake told you, we caught it before anything serious could happen." Walker said as he glanced at Jaune.

"..." Jaune just stayed silent and kept walking.

"You can talk to her when she gets back... that's if you want to talk with her." Walker said. The silence returned and the two just walked next to one another, taking notes of their surroundings. Eventually they made it to a secluded alleyway and sat on some nearby trash cans.

"Do you really think we'll get everyone out of here?" Jaune changed the subject.

"No. We'll get as much as we can. When the Locust hit, and they will hit, we need to be there to help minimize the damage." Walker responded.

"Why didn't they attack Atlas first?" Jaune asked.

"Probably to gain more resources from the other kingdoms. They had to know the state of Vacuo and Mistral before taking control of them." Walker answered. He shoved his hands in his pockets after adjusting his coat a bit.

"It'll be a shit show if Mantle falls." Jaune said.

"It always is. Point is, Mantle absolutely cannot fall. As much as I hate to admit it, Atlas does have one of the strongest military forces in the world. If the Locust manage to capture it then-" Walker started.

"We'll be in knee deep in shit. You got an alternative?" Jaune asked.

"You're not going to like it." Walker glanced at him.

"Come on." Jaune said.

"We sink Atlas." Walker said after a minute of silence. The tension between them and Jaune just looked at Walker like he was crazy. He's had some crazy ideas in the past but this was borderline lunacy.

"You can't be serious?" Jaune asked incredulously.

"If they dig underneath Mantle, then that means they're already moving a majority of their forces here. Atlas is large enough for the glacier nearby to finally break from the force, thus causing a flood." Walker explained calmly.

"So you plan on flooding their tunnels? What about the people?" Jaune asked.

"We'll save who we can. Let's hope Atlas has evacuation plans ready." Walker said.

"And if they don't?" Jaune asked.

"You already know the answer." Walker responded.

"..." Jaune nodded in understanding.

There were times when Walker's whole personality disturbed him, despite seeing all this death around him, he never seemed too bothered by it. He's seen him mourn alone, but he never wore his emotions on an open sleeve and if someone caught him then he was quick to shift their focus elsewhere. Just the mere mention of countless people dying made Jaune feel queasy, but he noticed Walker didn't even react.

It was like he was already mentally preparing himself for that amount of death. He was getting ready to seal off himself from the suffering of those he couldn't help so it didn't weigh him down later.

"Here's to hoping Atlas at least gets their shit together if they manage to defend their kingdom." Walker said.

"Yeah..." Jaune nodded and they stepped back out into the street.

"You want to go hunt some Locust?" Walker asked.

"What, no? Why would I do that?" Jaune looked at him.

"You still looked pretty upset over Nikos. I thought it'd be something to take your mind off that whole ordeal." Walker shrugged.

"I'm not, I mean... I am but I'm not. I don't know anymore." Jaune sighed quietly. Personally, he didn't know how to feel about the whole situation. A part of him felt like it was his fault for not noticing the signs and a part of him felt like it wasn't.

"Oh well, I'm not too good at cheering people up." Walker said.

"Walker... you don't have any hobbies outside of killing Locust, do you?" Jaune asked. Throughout the entire time he's known the other man, he's never seen him relax or stop obsessing over the Locust. If it wasn't related to war in some way shape or form, then he didn't put too much thought into it.

"I actually do. I grow different batches for my cigars and I tinker with machines sometimes." Walker answered.

"You need more hobbies." Jaune said.

"Like what?" Walker asked.

"I don't know. Something that doesn't involve management or war." Jaune shrugged.

All Walker did was roll his eyes before following him and the two went back to walking through the slums of Mantle, taking into account of how awful this place looked and smelled. It was clear that Atlas wasn't taking care of the people here, judging by the lack of personnel stationed here and their attitudes towards the general populace.

While the others were smuggling people out through the various tunnels and other routes, Walker was busy dealing with a small gathering of Locust. The Obsidian Guards walked next to him silently as he made his way through a small camp inside a frozen cave. He stepped over several bodies before finding a slab of Locust writing.

While he wasn't as good as Baird reading the texts, he did practice a good bit to understand their language more. It took him a few minutes to read the slab but he eventually got a general understanding of what was written on it. The camp was merely a resting point for an another Locust group and the location was to the South, forty-five miles away from Mantle.

After picking the corpses clean of their supplies, the seven of them loaded into the Bullhead and started to ascend. He pulled out a detonator and pressed it, watching as the camp went up in flames and he slid the door shut. The ride was silent with the exception of the Bullhead flying and they all checked their equipment and weapons carefully.

Minutes slowly slid by and that eventually turned to tens of minutes before they arrived at a cliff and were dropped off. Snow blew in several different directions as their feet slammed on the ground and watched as the aerial vehicle took off. They all crouched near the edge of the cliff and saw two dozen Locust moving supplies, eating whatever meat they got a hold of, or patrolling around.

One of them spotted a Locust sniper on the other side of the camp in a watch tower and aimed at it. He simply put his hand on their weapon and made them lower it, pointing at his watch and gesturing for them to wait until nightfall. All of them nodded and crept back towards the small opening in the cliff and watched as the snow started to fall more rapidly.

As the time passed, they received an update stating that a snowstorm was rapidly approaching. Their visibility started to lessen bit by bit and he nodded at them, quietly ordering them to circle around the camp and take up positions in several angles. Six of them carefully descended down the small mountain and crawled through the snow to avoid being spotted.

He kept crawling towards the camp and stopped about several yards out. His stealth suit made a warbled noise and he knew he only had several minutes before he was visible again. Flipping a switch on his goggles, he was able to see through the snowstorm and the others were highlighted. Each one took up a position surrounding the camp and he began to mark several Locust.

The first one that was marked was in the guard tower and he saw a grey beam be aimed at its skull, once it was finally set, he saw it turn blue. He marked the second and third one near the front gate and waited for the beams to turn blue. Both the fourth and fifth one were aimed at Grinders and once the beam turned blue, they didn't move from their mark.

The sixth beam was lined up on a Theron walking around the camp and once it stopped, the beam turned blue. He aimed at another Theron that was in the biggest camp and aimed at it, watching as his beam turned blue after lining it up.

"Fire." He whispered into the radio and squeezed the trigger. Seven suppressed shots rang out and seven Locust fell simultaneously and crumbled to the ground. The other Locust roared in alarm and he sprung up, dashing through the front gate at a nearby metal bench and flipping it over.

Bullets flew over his head and impacted the metal, making it ring when a few rounds it it. He winced as some flew over him and peeked to his right and fired at two Locust who were advancing on him. They gurgled as the explosive rounds detonated inside their bodies and ripped them apart.

He brought out his grenade and swung it a few times before tossing it to his right, watching as it bounced and beeped a few times before exploding. Judging by the sound of blood and body parts scattering, he got at least one trying to flank to his side.

"Ground-" A Drone was cut short when one of the guards shot it in the skull with his Boltok and watched its head be ripped in half.

Another Obsidian Guard rushed next to Walker and aimed the portable Vulcan Cannon at the group. The sound of heavy gunfire echoed through the air as he swept across the area and tore Locust apart with ease. The weapon spun furiously as it continued to fire countless rounds and started to rip anything it was aimed at apart like wet paper.

The Locust that were taking cover suddenly found themselves being ripped apart by the lethal ammunition of the others, who flanked around them. One last Locust remained and Walker shot it in its legs, causing it to collapse to the ground and try to crawl away. It was actually crawling towards a fallen Gnasher but he just kicked the weapon away.

He kicked it onto its back before raising his boot and slamming it down with all his might. Blood splattered against his boots and greaves and he lifted his foot, seeing blood and chunks of bone stick to the bottom. A sticky bridge of blood and gore was seen and he wiped it off on the corpse before looking around.

Everything was quiet and they all regrouped before looking at him. Despite them being at least a foot taller than him, they knew he was their leader and owed him their lives for saving them from damnation. Seven of the thirty Obsidian Guards were Gorilla Faunus, and the seven present with him viewed him as the troop leader, following him to the ends of Remnant.

The Onyx Guard and Obsidian Guard were practically the same, both serving as his black operations unit and personal guards. They knew he was capable of handling himself, as were the other three, but would always be the first to come coming whenever the group needed it. Both groups were nearly always behind enemy lines or in the thickest of it, it's how they preferred it.

The only exception was that the latter wasn't good at dealing with the general populace, often shying away from social interaction. At first, they displayed slight aggressive tendencies towards people they deemed weak, but he was quick to snuff that out. He knew they viewed compassion as a weakness, but had to remind them that compassion was what separated them from the Locust.

In the end, compassion was their salvation and they soon realized that.

"Good work." Walker complimented as he walked through the camp. As morbid as it sounded, he was glad there were more dead Locust; it just meant that was two dozen less to worry about.

"..." They nodded in appreciation and spread out to look for supplies, whether it be food, weapons, or other things. Anything that would add more resources to the Gears or BSS was necessary.

He just looked around the camp before his eyes trailed to something glimmering on a table and walked up to it. It was a knife, as it took it out of the sheath, he noticed that it was a demented combination of a bowie knife and a chainsaw. The top of the blade was a fully functional little chainsaw that went from the guard to the middle of the knife. The handle had a throttle near the guard that activated the saw.

"Would you look at that..." Walker clicked his tongue and observed the blade, sliding his finger across the flat surface of the blade. He tested its sharpness and then squeezed the throttle, creating a buzzing noise as the teeth spun furiously.

"Troop master." One of them came in the tent.

"What is it?" He asked as he put the knife in its sheath and put it on his hip.

"There are people here." The Guard answered and he nodded before heading outside of the tent.

He walked through the camp, ignoring the sight of the dozens of Locust corpses strewn about and saw the rest of the guards aiming their weapons at a group of people. His expression darkened a bit underneath his white helmet and the guards moved to the side as he put his hands on their shoulders and gently guided them apart. Despite never meeting her, he knew who Robyn Hill was.

"Do you mind having them put their weapons down?" Robyn pointed at them before raising her hands when they aimed at them some more.

"When you tell me why you're here." He responded as he sat down an a crate.

"We stumbled upon this place. Needless to say, we were surprised to see the Gears here." She said.

"I could say the same. What are you doing out here, Hill?" He asked.

"We were investigating-" She started.

"No one just stumbles upon a Locust camp. You knew about it, especially one this far out. So I'm going to ask this only once... how'd you know about it? Especially if we were here?" He asked and brought out his Boltok, tapping it against his thigh every so often.

"We've been hearing rumors about the Gears being here and came to see if they were true or not. People around have been whispering here and there about finding a way out and we've been listening. It took a few weeks, but we managed to find out enough information." She explained.

"You still didn't answer my question." He responded.

"We have informants that keep an eye on Mantle." She answered.

"What kind of informants and where?" He asked.

"I'll tell you more if you have them lower the guns." She gestured.

"I'm not in the mood, Hill. Either you tell me or I kill you." He said.

"Fine. We-" She stopped when there was a noise of a Bullhead in the distance and he looked to see a specialized one approaching.

"Looks like our time here is cut short. You say anything about our presence here and I'll kill you." Walker said as his suit turned nearly invisible as did the others. She's heard enough about him to know that he usually carried his threats out and couldn't do anything as him and the other six disappeared into the snowstorm.

Her goal was to have him assist with Mantle, and he was in his own way she supposed. The only problem was that he didn't believe a word she said and it just proved that he was an entirely different party. His motivations and approach were different from hers and he was willing to do things that she would frown upon.

In her opinion, the Gears were a force not to be trifled with. They were practically a global superpower now and becoming their enemy was an easy way to be sent to the grave early.

Walker had sent the knife back to Mother Base and was having the brothers look at it, hopefully to create more. He brought out a seismic spike and slammed it into the ground before twisting it. The top of it expanded and started to vibrate as it sent signals to their home. As much as he didn't like Atlas, he'd at least give them this information and hope that they didn't try to destroy it.

The underground tunnel was deathly silent and the only noise was of his breathing. Normally, he'd send the others but after they recently got back from smuggling more people out, he figured they needed a break. He needed some alone time anyways. It was always good to spend some time by himself sometimes. It allowed him to focus on his task better.

While he did enjoy the company of the other three, they didn't understand him sometimes. They knew how terrible the Locust were and the damage they could do if they were left unchecked but they didn't understand their genocidal counterparts like he did. He knew that the Locust lacked morality and wouldn't stop until every person was crushed underneath their boots. They couldn't afford to take long breaks and he was alright with fighting until either he was dead or every Locust was.

Others would call him a lunatic for having such an impossible goal, but he'd disagree. Their numbers had a limit and he knew it. All he needed to do was cause their numbers to shrink drastically and then they could start doing more. There weren't enough people fighting and that was a problem, both on Atlas' part and Vale's part as well.

Atlas relied too much on their knights to get the job done and all it did was give the Locust supplies to work with. They may not immediately know how to operate or control the knights, but give them enough time and he knew they would learn how to. People often underestimated their intelligence and it costed them their lives in the end.

Both Ironwood and Ozpin were a problem though, mainly due to the fact that they were more concerned about what he was doing rather than the common enemy. At least Vale knew better and did their best to participate in the war.

His thoughts drifted to what he'd do after the war was over. He still needed to find a way home and every day it started to become more impossible than getting rid of the Locust. There was no place to start, not even the portal that spit him here because there wasn't another one on the other side. The only one he knew of was that one on Azura.

He stopped walking and pulled out a picture of his family, rubbing it a few times as he stared at it. Had he not decided to snoop around and gone to bed like he was told, he'd be back on Sera looking for a place to start over. No one would have known Remnant existed aside from the inhabitants themselves.

Remnant would've been a Locust occupied world had he not shown up though. Had he not been here, they would've taken the surface because no one would have known how to at least push them back a bit. Him being here was both a blessing and a curse. It leaned more towards the latter though at certain times.

The picture was put away and he continued to walk through the dark tunnel while humming almost silently. He walked towards the entrance and stepped over a few Locust bodies, collecting supplies off of them before continuing forward. Every little bit helped and he winced at the bruises forming underneath his armor from the recent attacks.

A small growl erupted from his stomach and he held it a bit, mumbling to himself about the noise. He got on the C-Droid and called a Bullhead for transport before sitting on a nearby crate at the entrance. There were a few messages on his device and he checked them and read them carefully. Most were updates while others were personal messages.

Snow blew against him and he looked up to see that his ride was here, making him put his Lancer on his back and hold his hand up as it descended. Once it was low enough, he put his hands on the edge and hefted himself up into it. After making sure he was on, it started to ascend and he slid the door shut then climbed in his seat.

"How's the weather down there, boss?" The pilot asked.

"Terrible, just like this war." Walker responded, drawing a brief laugh from the pilot. They fell into silence and Walker received a message from Blake that there was someone at the safehouse. When he asked who it was, she told him that she didn't know but Red apparently did. He frowned underneath his helmet and told her that he'd be there in the next hour.

He brought out his cigar and took a slow drag from it. The ride seemed to be over in almost an instant and he hopped out of the Bullhead before heading towards the secret entrance. He looked around carefully before prying open the gate and slipping inside before making his way towards the safe house.

Avoiding the patrols of the Atlas soldiers was somewhat difficult. Word must have gotten out of people disappearing and they were sent here to investigate why. He looked around before prying open the entrance to a sewer. As he slipped inside, something caught his sleeve and he tugged at it a bit before managing to free himself and continue down the sewer.

It was more of a storm drain than anything and he easily weaved through the tunnels. He turned right after walking for a few minutes and came across the door, knocking several times and the sound of a dozen or so locks unlocking was heard. The door opened up and he walked inside, stomping his feet a few times before wiping his feet to rid them of the moisture.

He barely glanced at the unknown person sitting on the couch before he went back to wiping his feet again. They just watched as he continued to wipe his feet for a minute or so.

"Walker-" Blake started.

"Why isn't he handcuffed?" He interrupted and sat at the small table.

"Where are we going to handcuff him?" Jaune asked.

"Anywhere that'll hold him." Walker answered.

"Walker... this is Lucas Reed. He's a childhood friend." Red introduced the cat Faunus. He had dark grey hair, a slim build, two feline ears on top of his head, and wore a large, black hooded cloak. It looked torn in some places from apparently from his travels.

"That's cool, none of you answered my question though. Why isn't he handcuffed to something and why is he here?" He asked.

"I know him, Walker. He isn't going to do anything?" She said.

"How do you know? We don't know him, he just shows up, and you all just let him in?" He looked at each of them.

"I know I'm some unknown person, but I mean no harm. Catherine and I go way back." Lucas raised his hands a bit.

"..." Walker just narrowed his eyes at the man. His gut feeling told him that something wasn't right and when he noticed Red didn't bristle at her actual name being said, it just furthered his distrust.

"Walker, listen... he knows a bit about the Locust." Blake said.

"Outside." He pointed towards the door. They all looked at one another before leaving slowly and shutting the door behind them quietly. Only Walker and the other man were left and the former pointed towards the seat at the table.

"Listen, I think we both got off on the wrong foot. I'm a man of my word when I say that I don't intend to do anything." Lucas said as he sat down.

"You expect me to believe you?" Walker asked as he sat down on the other side.

"No, but I just think I don't deserve this kind of treatment." Lucas said.

"Yes you do, now what do you know about the Locust?" Walker responded. He didn't care if he was being paranoid and distrustful, there's no way someone of Red's past just shows up and gets comfortable with them.

"Word is that they already have tunnels underneath Mantle, specifically town square." Lucas said.

"How did you get this supposed intel?" Walker asked.

"The people of Mantle have eyes and ears everywhere. We appreciate the fact that the Gears are evacuating people, but if Mantle falls then so does Atlas." Lucas said.

"..." Walker just stared at him and the other man shifted in his seat a bit.

"Just let me help." Lucas said as he touched Walker's forearm. His semblance activated and he caught a glimpse through Walker's memories, making him quickly draw his hand back and avoid saying anything.

Walker didn't say anything and gripped Lucas by the collar of his shirt and started to drag him out, tossing him out before dragging the other three inside. The door was slammed shut and he stared at them before pointing at the table.

"You got two minutes to explain who the hell that is and what he wants." He said as he put his hands on the table.

"He's one of our informants, keeping us updated on Mistrals status. Red also knows him from her childhood." Blake answered.

"He's a good person." Red nodded.

"I agree with them." Jaune raised his hand slightly.

"You've met him for what, thirty minutes and you suddenly trust him?" Walker asked.

"I mean, he's been providing us reliable information for the last couple of months." Blake said.

"Get rid of him." He ordered.

"What? No, he's helping us as much as he can." Red suddenly said.

"In what way, because the information that's been giving us is the same as the other informants. If anything, he's late to the party." He said.

"I'm usually with you on most things, but I feel like he's just trying to help out." Jaune said.

"..." Walker just narrowed his eyes at each of them and they could feel him glaring at them. He knew something wasn't right because they weren't this relaxed around people from Atlas. He sent an order to the Obsidian Guard to keep a close eye on Red's "friend" and told them to exercise caution.

"Where are you going?" Red asked when she saw him grab some more equipment.

"Out." He answered and opened the door. A scowled wormed its way onto his face as he stared at the Faunus outside, gripping him by his collar and practically tossing him inside. The door was slammed and everything went quiet as the other three quickly went to Lucas to check up on him.

Blake, Red, and Jaune found Walker in another Locust camp, sifting through its contents in the main tent. They were growing more concerned about him by the day. He was barely in Mantle now and whenever he was out here in the cold, he barely contacted them. People that thanked him were barely given a response before he was suddenly off to the next task.

"Walker, you okay?" Jaune asked as he put his hand on his shoulder.

"I'm fine." Walker brushed the blonde's hand off and continued to look through the Locust slabs.

"Are you sure? You're barely in Mantle now." Blake asked.

"I'm fine... why are you all out here? I thought I told you to keep escorting people out?" He looked at each of them before turning back to his task.

"Atlas is starting to catch on that people are disappearing, they've increased the amount of personnel stationed there." Red answered.

"About time they get off their lazy asses." He muttered.

"Hey, Lucas said that Atlas has some crazy program-" Jaune started.

"Atlas isn't our concern. Stop worrying about what they're doing up there and focus on helping me figure out how to get Mantle under control." Walker interrupted. It went quiet and he just focused on deciphering the texts to the best of his ability. Hal popped up next to him and he constantly looked between the screen Hal was presenting and the texts.

It was slowly working and he started to understand what was being written bit by bit. From what he understood, the Locust were planning to disable the defensive measures on Atlas by targeting the cables keeping it up. Maybe he was missing something because those seemed like two different plans.

"We should try contacting Atlas for this one." Blake suggested.

"Why?" He asked.

"It's their kingdom and they'll do whatever they can to defend it. Not to mention, it'd be worth investigating that program up there." She answered.

"Oh my god..." Walker shook his head and kept reading.

"Walker, come on. You've been at this for half an hour, let's just take it back to the safe house and we can decipher some more there." Red said.

"Go away. If you all need something to do then go sabotage another camp with some of the others." He looked at them irritably from over his shoulder. Not once were they this annoying and he knew something wasn't right.

"We're just trying to help." Jaune said.

"You're all being useless." Walker said to each of them callously. They looked surprised and a little hurt that he said it so suddenly and slowly turned away from him before leaving the tent. He just shook his head and started to read the text some more before finally realizing the Locust's plan.

"Boss, we got more information on Lucas Reed." Control said.

"What do you have?" He asked.

"Apparently he's a special individual that works for Atlas, specializing in infiltration tactics. He's a rare case that possesses two Semblances. The first being able to dig into the memories of the person he comes in physical contact with-" They stopped when they heard him slam something.

"Go on." He managed to force out.

"The other being a Semblance called Charm and Trust. It allows him to charm the other person or group and gain their trust within several minutes. I'd be careful around him, boss. From what we've gathered, he's managed to charm people to pick him over their trusted allies." They finished.

"..." He nodded in understanding before thanking them for the information and hanging up. A hum escaped his lips as he sifted through the corpses of the Locust, finding another grenade to replace the one he threw.

It was just a minor setback. The more Atlas sent to him, the more he was starting to feel the need to pull his forces out and let the kingdom fall. His soul wouldn't allow it though and he'd forever feel guilty if the just let all these people die.

As he walked out the camp, he took the detonator from Red as he walked by and pressed the button. The whole camp went up in flames and he just continued to walk away from the burning camp. He stopped to admire his work and felt the heat warm his body up a bit.

"Hey, Walker." Red called out.

"Yeah?" He barely glanced at her.

"What's Sera?" She asked.

Almost as if somebody flipped a switch, the whole atmosphere suddenly grew thick with tension. The flames seemed to become more intense and Walker's whole mood seemed to take a dark turn.

"..." He didn't say anything, but he just slowly turned around and stared at her from over his shoulder. Blake and Jaune suddenly felt smaller as he walked in front of Red and stared down at her. She was only 5'5 and he was a healthy 6'3, but he felt so much taller with the flames behind him.

"Walker, you alright?" Jaune asked quietly.

"Who did you hear that from?" Walker asked calmly, too calm in their opinions. His tone seemed a tad bit emotionless but they could just feel the cold rage slowly sliding off his shoulders. It was like the mere mention of that word was enough to throw him into a enraged state.

"Lucas told us... he said that that's where the Locust came from and you knew." Red answered almost silently. Her second pair of ears pulled back and flattened on the top of her skull and her tail tucked in between her legs. She felt absolutely microscopic next to him and she gulped when she saw his hands twitch.

"..." He continued to stare at her before his gaze shifted to the other two. They just turned their gazes away from him and he looked back at Red then narrowed his eyes.

"It's alright if you don't know or want to tell us-" She suddenly stopped when he put his hand on the top of her skull and stared directly into her eyes.

"Stop... talking..." He ordered almost silently and her mouth clamped shut instantly. A wave of relief seemed to rush through her body as he let go and walked away from them. Her legs shook and she collapsed to her knees while holding her chest. Her heart beat rapidly and she closed her eyes to let the rest of the fear fade from her system.

The other two went up to her and made sure she was alright before glancing at Walker. They saw him staring at Atlas and his fists clenched tightly, the sound of his knuckles popping loudly made them tense up a bit.

It felt like they just stepped into a minefield and stepped on one of them. The others were soon going to explode because they knew something about him that he didn't want them to know yet. Even though they hadn't been actively looking into his past, Lucas had revealed some of it to them. A broken place that sounded horrible from what he's described.

They've seen Walker be intimidating, but this was an entirely new side to him that they've had the displeasure of experiencing. It was like a monster hidden within the depths of his soul that had briefly slipped out and Red was the first one to be exposed to it unfortunately.

An explosion in the distance made them all look towards Mantle and they could very faintly see silhouettes rushing towards the city. Some of them riding their horrible beasts that would mutilate whoever was unfortunate enough to be caught in their maws.

"Walk-" Blake started.

"Get in." He ordered ruthlessly. She froze for a second and nodded shakily before climbing in the Bullhead with the other two. He just calmly walked towards it and gripped the door.

"Aren't you coming inside?" Jaune asked.

"No." Walker responded and with one hand, slid the door shut with so much force it made them jerk around a bit. He slammed his fist on the side of the Bullhead a few times and watched as it took off towards the city.

It was his own fault for not handling the Faunus properly, allowing him to reveal his personal secrets and past before he was ready. That didn't matter right now and that was its own can of worms to be dealt with later. He had work to do and he wasn't going to let some silver tongue individual get in his way.

A King Raven appeared shortly after and landed, making him climb inside and hold onto the handle above his head. Inside were a mixture of Obsidian and Onyx Guards, all looking at him expectedly. He glanced at them and nodded before turning his gaze back out to the destruction that was currently happening.

Smoke could be seen in the air and the distant cacophony of screams and horrid roars were heard. Gunfire echoed in the distance and everyone in the King Raven could feel the death toll starting to accumulate.

"Boss, Atlas is requesting our assistance." Control said.

"..." He just made a noise in confirmation and his right hand clenched into a fist tightly. They'd get his assistance... but their debts could never be repaid if Mantle managed to survive. However many favors they owed him, he'd cash each one in, regardless if they had the resources at that moment or not.

Another chapter, another thanks for reading this. See ya later.