Snow continued to fall onto the ground as Walker put his hands in his pocket while the others were by his side. None of them knew what to say to him, how sorry they were for betraying his trust, or how they allowed him to be put in that position in the first place. He just kept looking ahead, occasionally glancing at the state of the buildings around them. As opposed to mere tents, there were actual houses with insulation to protect people from the cold.
It was a little cramped however and he heard talk about them expanding a little bit as more people were found. However, they'd need to push back the Locust to allow them to build undisturbed and this bomb was the only chance they had.
"Walker... I'm-" Red fumbled with her hands a bit.
"I know." He nodded and she shut her mouth instantly. Even though his tone didn't hold any bitterness, it still made her stop and flinch a bit. He knew she regretted being manipulated and her regret was evident in her actions. Those reckless, borderline suicidal, deeds she did was all he needed to know to tell how sorry she was.
"So how long have you been up?" Blake asked.
"A couple of weeks." He answered as he followed them to the house they were currently staying at. That explained why some of the resources from the base was missing when he first woke up.
"And you didn't tell us... why?" She put a hand on her hip.
"Wanted to see how you all were doing without me." He answered truthfully.
"..." They looked at him before looking away at the buildings. Despite them managing well, it was hard and none of them realized how much he actually did. Each day was tiring and some days they didn't get to leave the office until late.
"How do you do it?" Jaune asked.
"Managing it all?" Walker asked back.
"Yeah." Jaune nodded.
"I just got used to it after a while." Walker shrugged. At first, it was hard and he wasn't used to things like that, but it gradually got easier over time and it just became second nature to him. It allowed him to finally appreciate some of the work the pencil pushers did on Sera during the Locust War. Without them, things would fall into disarray and only a small handful would know how to get that kind of work done.
They walked into the house and Walker looked around, following them upstairs where he saw his room was at. It wasn't anything special; a bed near the window to the left side, a dresser on the opposite end of the room right next to the bathroom, and a TV facing the end of the bed against the wall.
It was late and they were tired and bid him a goodnight, while he did the same. He heard the doors close and sighed before sitting on the bed and lying down on the mattress after a few minutes. While he was tired, it wasn't to the point where he could fall asleep just like that. Ever since he got out of the tank, he's been restless and the only way to actually get rid of that feeling was to be active.
The other three fell asleep relatively quickly and he quietly put his equipment on, leaving the weapons on his back and keeping the Snub on his thigh. He silently stepped out of the house and shut the door, putting his hands in his coat pockets and walking through the areas that acted as streets. People walked by him and glanced at him while he just ignored them and looked around, seeing the mighty walls stand high.
Gears patrolled the area, stopping to look in surprise at his sudden appearance. They asked a few questions regarding when he woke up and if he was alright; all he would do was answer them before they went back to patrolling around. Several BSS operatives saluted him when he walked by and even some of the VDF did as well. He didn't know why the latter looked up to him so much.
His legs just carried him somewhere and he didn't really have a clear destination in mind. Sometimes just moving around like this was enough to get him tired so he could fall asleep. Due to always working until he dropped, he never really had time to appreciate the smaller things in life. These quiet moments made the troubles they went through somewhat worth it.
Eventually, he found himself on top of the large wall after climbing the ladder and staring out into the distance. The sheet of white that covered the horizon was a little peaceful to look at, and when he turned to look at Beacon, he saw a place with people who were forced together under horrible circumstances. The chimneys that constantly allowed smoke to rise into the air was almost asking for an attack to happen, but he had a feeling that the Locust knew where they were anyways.
Hal appeared next to him and beeped a few times, staring out into the horizon with him. He just gave the bot's chassis a few pats before he brought out his C-Droid and looked at a few messages. The holographic screen was slightly bright and he turned down the brightness a bit before smiling when he saw a picture of Amiya that was sent to him. He cycled through his messages and saw a video of her taking her first steps.
He'd visit them tomorrow before they left.
Deciding to get some sleep, he climbed off the catwalk and back onto the sidewalk, stuffing his hands in his pockets when the air nipped at him. A yawn was barely head from his lips and he continued to make his way back towards the house they were staying in. He brought out his C-Droid and looked at the project that was pending before approving it.
While the people would be confused about it, others knew exactly what was happening and were already making the moves to execute it. The builders felt pride in their work and he did as well, they would be forever thankful to him for allowing them to build something they could call their life's work. People at the base respected him deeply, and although he was closer to his Gears, he did feel a little proud of the civilians as well for putting in the work into building the community.
He kept looking at the device and saw that a shipment of fish had arrived at the base. If there was one thing that the Gears had, it was access to large amounts of seafood and often traded with Vale and Menagerie. The latter's price was usually reduced so they were able to stay afloat and put more money towards the defensive capabilities of Beacon. While the latter's prices remained the same seeing how they were close to the sea and had access to it quite easily.
On his way, he stopped when he looked up at the cloudy sky and wondered when the last time it was clear. It was odd when it came to locations, Mother Base felt just right sometimes and Menagerie was too... relaxing for his tastes. Beacon was just there, it felt like any other city and he could honestly compare it to one of the cities on Sera, where a Locust attack was bound to happen one day.
"Too damn tired..." He muttered to himself as he made his way back to the house with his hands in his pocket. The others were asleep by the time he got back and they wouldn't even know he stepped out. He sat on his bed after taking everything off and sighed before taking his helmet off and lying down on the mattress.
A groan was barely heard from him as he got underneath the covers and closed his eyes, rubbing his face before slowly drifting off to sleep. It felt a bit good to finally sleep in a bed once more and not in that tank, as warm as the thing was, he really didn't wish to ever be confined in it again. He was a restless person sometimes and hopefully they'd be able to get this bomb complete before the Locust could stage another attack.
They had been too quiet recently and he knew all too well what that meant.
The sound of the siren blaring made Walker scramble out of bed. He quickly went up to the window to see people rush to their windows or look out their doors before he hurriedly put his clothes on. When he checked the time, he saw that only two hours had passed since he fell asleep and ignored the slight fatigue he was feeling from being woken up.
His armor was quickly put on and his fists slammed on the doors of the other three before he sped down the stairs. He didn't even wait to see them open their doors quickly before he was out of the house and rushing off towards the armory. People came out of their houses but were being ushered inside by Gears, BSS, and the VDF while he just kept running towards his destination.
He constantly weaved through the crowd and slid around a corner of one of the streets and spotted his destination. A large building with a giant plume of smoke rising in the air from the chimney. A few Gears were inside already and he rushed into the building, seeing several Gears gathering their weapons and armor from their lockers. Both Brock and Simon barely got a greeting in before seeing him grab his equipment and dash back outside with some of the others.
Blake, Red, and Jaune arrived at the armory and he nodded at them before running past them, listening to the chatter on the radio about a large Locust horde approaching. They had brought over a hundred Locust, a Corpser, and a Brumak with them. Although, the Brumak wasn't adorning its normal rocket launcher on its back but rather a heavy looking mortar. While it wasn't nearly as much as when they invaded Vale, it was still a troubling number of them.
As he ran, towards the wall, he saw the other three running next to him. While he would normally appreciate them next to him, the circumstances were different and he needed them to escort the civilians to a safer location. So with a quick order, they followed through with it and would join him a bit later. While he did see the hesitance in their eyes, he knew it was because they were worried that he'd be confined in that tank again, but he'd be more careful this time.
Terrible roars could be heard in the distance and he quickly climbed up the ladder, making to the top and maneuvering his way across the top of the wall and peeked over it. Multiple Locust could be seen spotted rushing towards the bottom and he whistled loudly, giving everyone orders to keep the Locust out. He stopped when he saw a hook be thrown over the edge and more hooks started to slam on the top of the wall.
Some of the Gears went to work dislodging the hooks, peeking over the edge and killing any Locust that started to climb. Shrieking was heard above and he looked up and ahead to see Reavers flying towards Beacon. The Ball Turrets mounted on the walls quickly honed in on them and started to fire into the sky, ripping the beasts and their riders apart easily. Clouds of red mist from the Reavers was faintly seen and Walker slammed the end of his Lancer on a hook, causing several Locust to plummet to their deaths.
A VDF soldier slammed the end of his rifle on one of the hooks and looked over the edge, only to have a cleaver slammed into his skull, splitting it open. His body teetered a bit before falling backwards and tipping over the railing of the catwalk. The others watched as his corpse spun through the air before slamming onto the concrete, causing a wet crunch to echo across the area and splatter it in blood.
"Michae-" A BSS operative was cut off when the sound of malicious laughing was heard and a Drone vaulted over the edge. It roared at them all and she aimed her Lancer at it, causing the Drone to bring up his forearm and activate a Hard-Light shield.
"What the fuck?" A Gear exclaimed before they saw the Drone start to charge at them, firing recklessly. Stray bullets sped past them and they all started to fire at it, causing the shield to turn orange then red before it shattered and they fired dozens of rounds into it. Its body fell onto the surface and the catwalk rattled a bit with blood leaking through the cracks.
"Since when did they get Atlas tech?" A VDF asked everyone.
"Later. Get those damn hooks off!" Walker ordered and they all nodded before going back to dislodging the hooks from the wall. He looked over the edge to see the Brumak and Corpser make their way towards Beacon, making him frown and look around. They'd be here within ten minutes which meant he had ten minutes to figure out a way to keep those two away.
"Boss, we're not detecting Nemacysts in the sky." A pilot told him over the radio.
"Understood, which King Raven are we taking?" He asked.
"KR-9." The pilot answered and he nodded before ordering several more squads to assist in keeping the hooks off. He slid down the ladder and stumbled a bit when the walls shook as the Brumak fired a mortar at it. People rushed past him and he maneuvered his way through the crowd, running as fast as he could towards the landing pads.
Dozens of people fell when a mortar made it over the walls and struck a few buildings. Luckily, those two houses were clear but it was evident that they needed to deal with the Brumak before it did any serious damage. Unfortunately, another mortar flew over the wall and hit somewhere. He could hear the screams of terror in the distance, making him run faster towards the landing pads
He finally made it and hopped inside the King Raven, ushering the pilot to take off before he went to the gun on the door. The rotors started to spin quickly and the two were off, flying higher and higher into the sky before taking off towards over the wall. Snow blew towards the direction of Beacon and he ignored the chill before aiming at the Locust that were starting to climb on the ropes.
The barrels spun quickly as hundreds of rounds were fired from them, ripping out small chunks of the wall and eviscerating any Locust that were climbing up the ropes. Blood and internal organs splattered against the surface, painting it a crimson color in multiple spots. The Locust that were on the ground looked up and fired at them, only to have their bodies ripped apart and scattered across the ground.
He ordered the pilot to swung around the Brumak, and felt the aerial vehicle fly circles around it. It roared and started to fire its Chain-Guns on its wrists at them. Another mortar was launched and it hit the wall, causing a large hole to be blown into it. He cursed under his breath before watching as another mortar was slid into place and readied to be fired.
The radio cackled and he heard two more King Raven pilots say that they were coming to assist him, making him barely respond back before firing at the Brumak. It shielded its face and roared at him, giant globs of saliva flying from its mouth. Its right arm raised and he aimed at it, firing dozens of high-powered rounds at its Chain-Gun before watching it explode, injuring the war beast.
Dozens of casings fell onto the floor and slid over the edge of King Raven as he continued to fire. The Two King Ravens sped towards the Brumak and began to fire at it as well in unison. With the combined fire of the heavy weaponry, the Brumak roared as chunks of flesh were ripped off of its body. The Locust controlling the beast turned into a cloud of red mist when Walker aimed the door gun at it and fired.
With the pilot gone, the war beast started to recklessly charge towards the cliff. It fell when hundreds of rounds ripped through its leg, stripping the flesh away and cracking the bone violently. One last roar was barely heard before it suddenly exploded into large chunks of flesh after they focused fire on the mortar shells. Half of its body was gone while its blood internal organs caked the area with large pieces of bone embedded into the ground.
A shriek made him look to see the Corpser climbing up the cliff and make it to the wall. He ordered the pilots to focus fire on it bracing himself when the King Raven started to veer to the left and come across the large creature. Three highly powered mounted guns were aimed at it and fired simultaneously at it, ripping apart its body easily and stopping the advance.
The loud sound of rumbling made him look below to see multiple E-Holes open up. Like a swarm of ants, more Locust emerged and started to rush towards the cliff. He aimed at the ground and began to fire, killing dozens of Locust but noticing that the horde wasn't slowing down in the slightest. More and more kept emerging and he saw a King Raven gunship fly over the wall. It turned towards the horde and fired missiles at it.
Multiple Locust had their bodies scattered and blood caked the melting snow. More fell onto the ground into multiple chunks when Walker and the other gunners in the King Ravens fired into them. He stumbled a bit when the King Raven swerved out of the way of an oncoming Reaver. It sped past them and shrieked loudly before extending its clawed tentacles around one of the aerial vehicles.
The rotors mutilated the beast but it began to swerve out of control in the process. Walker watched as it spun faster and faster before slamming right in the center of the horde, illuminating the area in a vibrant orange glow as it exploded. A tug at his heart was felt when he saw the pilot and gunners perish before he aimed at the Locust that were closest to Beacon.
He saw several enter the hole that was blown into the wall by the Brumak. As much as he wanted to fire into it, he knew better and wouldn't risk hitting whoever was defending the opening. So he instead had the pilot go swing by the cliff and he felt the air swishing past him as they quickly flew towards the cliff, allowing him to fire into the side of it and kill the Locust that were climbing.
A few of them aimed at him and fired, making him duck down a bit, before he fired right back and killing several of them. He aimed towards the edge of the cliff and fired at the hooks, tearing them apart and sending the many Locust climbing them down to their deaths. Almost instantly, more hooks were thrown onto the edge and he clutched the handles in rage.
More Locust managed to get up over the edge and beeline their way towards the hole. He killed several of them before he stopped firing when he barely spotted a few of the VDF inside near the hole entrance. The sound of roaring was heard and he turned his head to the other side of the King Raven to see another Brumak being dealt with by the gunship. It fell after trying to unsuccessfully take down the aerial vehicle but the pilot kept maneuvering out of the way just in time and showered the beast with missiles and heavy rounds.
With a quick order, the pilot flew over the walls and hovered over the landing pad. He dropped down and several Gears took his place inside, carrying extra ammunition to reload the mounted guns. They took off shortly after while he rushed to the hole, weaving his way through the crowd and sliding around the corner of a house. He saw a blockade already set up and rushed to it, sliding into cover as rounds flew past his head.
Jessica's eyes widened when she spotted him and he gave a subtle nod before looking over his shoulder when Cardin slammed into cover. The three quickly stood up to fire into an incoming Boomer, tearing large chunks of flesh out of its body before watching it spin around and bleed out on the ground. They ducked shortly after when multiple rounds whistled past their heads.
VDF and Gears came to assist them and took cover behind pieces of a broken building and at the barricade near them. They fired into the horde that was pouring through the hole and killed several Locust, causing their bodies to collapse or fall backwards. Cardin grabbed his grenade and tossed it over to the oncoming group, causing a few Locust to shout in alarm. A few managed to dive out of the way while others had their bodies scattered in various directions.
A Gear with a portable Vulcan Cannon stood up before squeezing the trigger. The sound of the heavy weapon spinning was heard and a torrent of rounds flew out of the barrels. The scalding hot rounds easily ripped apart the Locust and the few smarter ones took cover.
Several Gears came out with heavy shields and formed a line, acting as a barrier. More Gears came behind them and fired at the Locust, killing them with well placed shots before following close behind the Shield Guards. Whenever another swarm of Locust would approach, the Shield Guards would stop and hunker down, acting as a sort of impenetrable barrier. It allowed the shooters to fire into the horde and slowly advance.
Walker stood behind one of them and when the Shield Guards stopped, he fired alongside the rest and continued to advance. A cacophony of synchronized stomps and shields slamming was heard throughout the area. The Locust were slowly being pushed back and a particularly bold Grenadier had its face bashed in by one of the shields.
"Holy shit..." A BSS operative whispered as he watched the Gears seemingly push back the unstoppable horde. A few others witnessed this as well and looked at one another before starting to advance.
The wall of shields slammed into the ground once more, and the shooters fired into the horde some more. Multiple bodies were stepped over but that didn't slow the Gears down in the slightest. A ticker scuttled across the ground and shrieked loudly before detonating in front of the shields. The force of the explosion caused them to skid back a few inches but they steeled themselves shortly after and continued forward.
A cacophony of frustrated roars were heard as the Locust started to mercilessly advance. The Shield Guards stopped and ducked down a bit, allowing two Vulcan Cannon users to fire the heavy weapons. Countless bullets were fired as the two users swept the area to kill nearly two dozen Locust before they ducked down and allowed the shield wall to raise again.
Multiple VDF squads saw this and felt their spirits raise, causing them to start to advance as well. They rushed behind Walker and the others but not forward, staying back far enough to give their support. Some even managed to flank around the Locust and kill several of them.
Walker himself barely spared them a glance before his eyes went back to the retreating horde ahead. He and several others fired into the Locust that were called back and kept advancing. A particularly bold VDF soldier, a greenhorn, tried to rush forward but Walker yanked him back. He knew what the kid was going through was a combat high, and it was something Walker experienced on multiple occasions when he was still fresh out of basic.
With a quick and curt tongue lashing, Walker brought the kid back to his senses and ordered him to stay back a bit. He wasn't about to have someone as young as him die like the kid on the boat from the slaughterhouse raid at Red Rock. The guilt from having such a young, inexperienced person such as that kid dying during that operation constantly ate away at Walker. It applied to his younger Gears as well, and although Walker was only a few years older than them, he had been fighting the Locust for so long that he felt older than what he actually was.
He was extremely tough on his Gears because he cared about them. This war wasn't for territory or political reasons, it was for survival and he gave them the harsh reality of what the Locust would do to them should they not be tough as them, if not tougher.
He was brought out of his senses when he spotted the Locust start to pull out. Multiple Drones, Grenadiers, Kantus, and Therons fell back. They were facing too many losses but Walker knew that wasn't the case. They were simply testing the waters like they did in Vale and he'd allocate more resources into Beacon's defenses.
The fighting started to die down and Walker and several others fired over the edge, killing the retreating Locust and watching their bodies plummet. He ordered several Gears to aim at the E-Holes with rocket launchers and fire, forever sealing them with multiple explosions.
He stood at the edge, watching as the Locust that remained on the surface fall to multiple Gears that were hidden in the snow. They had flanked around the Locust when they first started to falter and were there to kill any unfortunate enough to be stuck on the surface. It was an aggressive and bold move, but it paid off in the deaths of dozens of Grubs.
After several more minutes, the fighting finally stopped and Walker stared out into the battlefield below. He gazed at the destruction with jaded eyes while others stood by him and felt the adrenaline start to fade from their systems.
"Secure the area. Recover any injured and deceased personnel. Pick up any weapons and supplies you can find. Then defend the repairmen." Walker ordered. His tone was monotone but nobody bothered to go against him or argue. They simply did what they were told while he stared off into the distance and narrowed his eyes, feeling like something was staring right back him.
He turned his back towards the battlefield and began to walk towards Beacon. The barrel of his Lancer was smoking and magazine was practically empty while his shotgun ran out of shells a while ago. All that was left was a single bullet in his Boltok and he never felt so light in his life before.
As he looked at the bodies that littered the street, he couldn't help but feel tired now. He was running on fumes and there was the feeling of dread in his system and he didn't know why. Gears and the VDF rushed by him while the BSS were busy collecting the injured and deceased, tending to the former while taking the latter to a certain location.
"..." He just looked up at the sky and noticed that he moon was out for once. It was peaceful as it was haunting and he wondered how long its been since anybody's seen it here.
The feeling of dread continued to grow as Walker made his way through the streets. He stopped when he saw an open area with multiple bodies covered in sheets, but what got his attention was Blake, Red, and Jaune standing near a few. Blake was carrying Amiya while they were looking down at the ground. His footsteps made them perk up and look at him and he immediately noticed their expressions.
As he got closer, he stopped when he noticed a familiar hand sticking out of one of the sheets. His heart slammed in his chest while his stomach sunk to the lower pits of his body. He understood why he was having that uncomfortable feeling and it only grew the longer he stared.
"No... no, no, no, no, no..." He whispered as he backed up. Red didn't say anything as she approached him and opened her hand. In her glove was five tags that he personally made for the Scarlatina family. He slowly opened his hand and she gently put them in it, backing up as he stared at them.
"Walker... we..." Blake trailed off as tears slid from her eyes. The sheer amount of pain in her voice was enough to make him falter.
He didn't say anything as he slowly approached the four black tarps that were set away from everyone else. They backed up as he knelt down onto one knee and slowly tugged one of them down. His heart sank a bit when he saw Richard's face and he closed his eyes before gently putting it back over his body. He did the same with Katrina and Ian, feeling a new wave of anguish when he saw their deceased faces.
When he got to Velvet, he slowly took his helmet off and set it on the ground. A tear slid down his cheek and landed on her cold one. He didn't say anything or openly sob. The silence that plagued them was cold and all he could do was let the tears fall without a single sound. The sorrow that he was feeling couldn't be described with words and his mind started to fog over.
There wasn't a dramatic goodbye or her dying in his arms, it was simply her lifeless body lying still on the concrete beneath him. He didn't know what pained him more, the fact that it was really them lying amongst the deceased or that he had broken his personal promise that he'd keep them safe.
Memories of him spending time with them played through his mind; of the movies they watched together, the dinners they had, the constant calls they made to check up on him, to even considering him a part of them. In short, they considered him family despite only knowing him for a few years.
He mourned her silently before putting his helmet back on and covering her again. His body felt numb as did his mind, and he didn't know if it was his soul trying to ease the pain but it wasn't working. All it did was make him feel worse and the silence only increased the feeling. There was no noise, no form of distraction to take his attention away from the fact that the Scarlatinas were here.
His eyes trailed down to his hands to see the tags in them, making his heart ache more. Just the mere sight of them was enough to have a wave of sorrow flash through his system. He looked up to see a few Gears among the deceased and he closed his eyes, deciding not to look at them anymore.
"Walker-" Red started and when she went to touch his shoulder, he yanked it away. She shakily lowered her hand and let it hand by her side before backing up to the other three.
"We're not done." He muttered almost silently as he shook his head and stashed the tags in his pocket. He momentarily stopped when he heard Amiya's small noises before continuing forward.
"Walker!" Jaune called out but his calls fell on deaf ears as he watched his brother go somewhere. He knew that he didn't blame them in the slightest, but he was hurt in ways they didn't know how to fix.
Walker's hearing was muffled and he barely registered anybody talking to him. All he did was just numbly make his way to the edge of the cliff and staring out into the distance. The wind blew against his chest and he barely reacted before he sat down on the cold ground and let his head sag. There was the sound of someone running and he felt someone crash into his back while a pair of arms wrapped around him.
Blake pressed her face into his back and she openly cried. Her sobs were full of anguish and it hurt his heart hearing them but the numbness kept returning. He didn't want to wallow in pity and he didn't want anybody near him. All he wanted was a distraction to keep his mind away from the sorrow that he was feeling now. Something... anything, even anger at this point, was better than that horrid emotion.
For once, he wanted to find Locust to kill in order to get him to take his mind off of the Scarlatinas' deaths. As demented and unhealthy as it sounded, it was all he knew how to do at this point. He desperately needed an outlet but none came unfortunately.
All he had was Blake rocking side to side while constantly muttering her apologies. Seeing the family lying still on the ground hurt her as much as it hurt him, it hurt everyone that personally knew them. He mentally pleaded that he hadn't woken up yet and desperately wished that this was some sick nightmare he was experiencing. However, he knew it wasn't, no matter how much he pinched himself or looked around, this was reality.
The fatigue from the last few hours started to catch up to him and he suddenly leaned back into Blake's arms. He kept staring forward but saw the tears from her eyes slide down the eyes of his helmet.
"W-Walker... we have to get up." She said hoarsely.
"..." He just kept staring out, his hearing muffled and mind fogged over.
"Walker, please." She pleaded as she started to try and lift him up.
"..." He still didn't say anything.
"Amiya needs you. We all need you." She said and she saw his hand twitch. Without so much as uttering a single word, he slowly got up and made his way back to Beacon with her. He didn't make a single sound as he walked through the hole.
Hidden in some rubble was a Wretch and it quietly snarled before suddenly springing out, surprising several people. They tried to shoot it out of the air but it was already leaping towards Walker and Blake. She was about to push him out of the way but his arm shot out like a viper and his hand wrapped around the Wretch's throat tightly.
It made a choking noise and clawed his arm while snapping its jaws at him but he barely reacted. After a few seconds, everyone watched as he gripped its lower half and gave a noise they didn't even think was possible from him, then proceeded to pull his arms apart. With an unnatural feat of strength, he tore the creature in half with a wet sounding ripping noise.
The two halves of the body dangled in his grasp and he threw them away in disgust. It made several of them falter because they didn't even think he was capable of doing that. However, doing that sapped the last bit of strength he had and he fell to one knee, causing Blake to rush to his side. Even though he was up and fighting, he was still technically recovering and doing that little feat would only make the process take longer.
He saw the people giving a weak cheer of triumph at the fact that they repeled the Locust but Walker felt like they had lost, as did Blake. The two of them just slowly made their way back to Jaune and Red before spotting them. They saw Red holding Amiya in her arms while Jaune stood in front of her with his arms spread out defensively while Yatsuhashi and Coco were standing in front of them.
Just the mere sight of the two made Walker's blood boil and the fog in his mind cleared. The closer they got to them, the more of the conversation they could hear. He saw Red bounce up and down while Amiya made a little fussy noise at the commotion, her little mind not understanding what was going on.
"She's my daughter. Give. Her. Here." Yatsuhashi said as he took a step forward and Jaune just blocked him off.
"You never cared about her in the first place, so why-" Jaune stopped when he spotted Walker and Blake. Both Yatsuhashi and Coco turned around and spotted Walker, with the latter stepping up to him boldly.
Blake stepped in front of Walker and narrowed her eyes at Coco, her eyes practically slits and they seemed to glow in the moonlight. Both glared at one another and Walker ignored Coco and Yatsuhashi before stepping up to Red. He gently poked Amiya's shoulder and the infant looked at him, recognizing him almost instantly and reaching out towards him.
He picked her up and brought her close to him, holding the back of her head and turning back around. When he tried to leave, Yatsuhashi stepped in front of him and glared at him. Tension was thick in the air and the two stared at one another.
"Give-" Yatsuhashi stopped when a Boltok was aimed in his face. Coco pulled out her weapon and aimed it at Walker while Red, Blake, and Jaune aimed at her. Several Gears saw this and quickly rushed over to them, taking their boss's side as expected. The VDF and BSS quickly came and tried to placate the two parties.
"Get out of my way." Walker said.
"I'm not leaving without my daughter." Yatsuhashi said.
"You never cared about her once, so why start now?" Walker asked, his aim never wavering.
"You think you can just take her? Especially after Vel-" Coco started but stopped herself.
"Where were you when Velvet was pregnant? Where were you when she constantly tried to get a hold of you all this time? Where were you when Amiya was born?" Walker started, adjusting his hold on Amiya as she nestled her face in his shoulder.
"..." Yatsuhashi stayed silent as people looked at the two of them.
"Where were you when she took her first big milestone by crawling? Or when she took her first steps?" Walker continued.
"Where were you?" Coco asked.
"In a coma." Walker answered. He didn't care if they found out, he had a reason as to not be in Amiya's life for some time.
"..." Yatsuhashi's face remained the same but his fists shook.
"You never changed her diaper, put her to sleep, or spared a second of your time with her. Three hundred messages, forty videos, thirty-seven photos, and not one single fucking reply from you. Where were you in their lives?" Walker asked evenly. Although his voice was calm, nearly everyone could sense the cold rage rolling off his tongue.
"I-" Yatsuhashi started but Walker aimed the gun a little higher at him.
"Where were you all this time? Where the hell were you when she needed you the most?" Walker asked and the tension was so thick that it needed an axe to cut through it.
"Away..." Yatsuhashi said.
Walker clicked his tongue and put his Boltok away before he set Amiya down between the two of them. Everyone looked at him then at the two men before their eyes went to the little Faunus baby. She looked confused as to why he set her down before looking at him then at Yatsuhashi. Her eyes looked at Walker's helmet before they trailed up to Yatsuhashi's dark eyes.
She teared up and started to cry before she shakily stood up on her own and waddled to Walker, reaching her hands up and making a grabbing motion. When she was picked up, she put her face in the crook of his neck while he rubbed her back a few times.
"You had all this time and all these chances, yet you never once cared. You like the title of a father but not the responsibility of one. I told you a while ago that you better step up and you couldn't even do that." Walker shook his head as he started to walk past the other man.
"..." Yatsuhashi didn't know what to say. That he didn't know what to do? He never really gave his daughter a second of this thoughts, just the mere fact that she was safe was enough for him.
"I hold the Locust in higher regards than I hold you at this point." Walker said and several people flinched at the comment. They knew how much Walker despised the Locust but to hear him openly admit that someone was lower than the genocidal monsters was something nobody thought would be possible.
"Holy shit..." Cardin muttered under his breath.
"If I ever see your face again... I'll fucking kill you." Walker said as he looked at Yatsuhashi. His threat wasn't just aimed at him, it was aimed at Coco as well and she knew better than to say anything. If there was anybody that always went through with their threats, it was Walker of all people.
Walker just nodded at the others and they began to follow him. Was he terrible for essentially ripping a man away from his child, he certainly was and he wouldn't say otherwise. However, he wasn't about to let the bastard get his daughter killed through negligence or by some other means.
He stopped when he spotted the four black tarps with the bodies of the Scarlatinas. The pain returned and it took coaxing from Blake and Red to get him to look away while Jaune got him moving again. They stuck by his side and he looked at Amiya sadly before rubbing her back a bit when she made a few noises.
The promise he made to Richard long ago was broken and he knew he should've been there for them, making sure they were safe and sound before he went off to fight the Locust. It was a stupid mistake on his part and he knew it wasn't the other three's fault. They had started out with them but got separated when the mortar hit, one thing led to another, and they were surrounded by Locust.
They tried to reach them but it was too late. All they could save was Amiya after Velvet managed to hide her away somewhere before she was tragically killed. The same couldn't be said for Ian though and it hurt Walker's soul just hearing about his death. Yatsuhashi wasn't anywhere to be found and Walker had to stop himself from handing Amiya to Blake or Red in order to turn around and shoot the bastard.
As much as he wanted to, he couldn't bring himself to do it. There had been enough death for one day and everyone was exhausted both physically and mentally. The tolls of war was starting to affect them all and he steeled himself to continue forward.
Deep within his soul was a flicker of hateful anger. The flames of hatred towards the Locust fueled his drive to eradicate them from the face of the planet. That deep rooted resentment from the previous and current Locust war was beginning to boil. He saw it in countless others as well.
However, he pushed that feeling down and allowed himself to silently mourn for now. There would be a funeral for them and he'd be there, just like how he was for nearly all the funerals for his Gears. He'd take care of Amiya the best he could. It wouldn't be perfect, but it would be better than nothing.
It was all he could do at this point...
Hello, everyone, I hope you're all doing well. So, I don't really think this chapter will be as liked as the others and that's okay. I'd like to thank you for sticking with the story so far. Not everyone will agree with my decisions and some may leave, I understand if you do.
Anyways, I don't have much to say other than thanks for taking the time out of your day to read this. See ya.