A/N

While this is indeed a rewrite, it isn't on any sort of schedule, I'll write up and post chapters at my own speed. I'm currently working on a couple other interesting concepts as well that I hope ya'll will like. Thank you all for your patience and dedication to seeing this story to the end, I love you all! :)

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

*Radio/Holotapes*

[Computer/Pip-Boy/Notes]

The Ghosts of a Wanderer Chapter 2

-=-=-=Locations=-=-=-

I own nothing

The Ghosts of a Wanderer - Chapter 2

Beacon Academy - Headmaster Ozpin's Office

James swore if he had a knife, he'd be able to cut the tension in the air like butter.

"What do you mean you refuse?"

"I mean I don't want to take your job," James said with a heavy sigh as he crossed his arms over his ever-present riot chest armor, "I said I'd hear you out on a potential job, but I never guaranteed I'd take it."

The silver-haired man in front of James took a sip from the mug in front of him and hummed, If he remembered correctly, the man's name was Ozpin, the headmaster of some sort of school.

The man had driven a hard bargain, and James was extremely tempted to take the job, a couple hundred of the local currency a day, a safe place to sleep and free food and supplies for repairs, It'd have been a dream come true, if it weren't for the conditions.

As the silver-haired man had said not a minute earlier, James was to be confined to the school's campus for the duration of his job and wasn't allowed to drink or smoke. But the real dealbreaker was the face that this Ozpin guy asked that James declare his loyalty to some random assholes called the Valen Council.

Yeah, like that was gonna happen.

"May I ask why?" Ozpin asked politely, his face flat and devoid of any emotion.

"I am only loyal to those I've fought and bleed with, My loyalty isn't something to be pledged, it's earned," James said simply, his voice flat and his face neutral.

"I see," Ozpin said simply before smiling, "At least allow us to feed and house you for the night, consider it an apology for wasting your time."

"I'll have to politely refuse that offer as well," James stated with a grin before drawing a metal flask from one of his numerous pockets and taking a long swig from it, "I can't get my bearings around here if I'm stuck cooped up around here."

"I understand, I'll have Glynda escort you into town," The silver-haired man said, "I already have a team retrieving your vehicle, I'll arrange for it to be delivered with you into Vale."

"Thanks, bud," James said quickly between sips from his flask before being ushered into the elevator by a very worried and confused Glynda Goodwitch.

-=-=-=Unknown Place - Unknown Time=-=-=-

"Sir, Unknown Alpha has been intercepted by the locals." A young brown-haired man in a set of standard fatigues said while tapping away at the terminal set in front of him.

The dark room was filled with the distinct clicking of keyboards and officers speaking either to each other or into the headsets atop their heads.

"Recall Raven Team," An old man with an eagle on the collar of his coat said with a slight twinge of annoyance, he always did hate the locals, "And has Foxtrot gotten back to us on that intel?"

"Yes sir, Reports indicate unknown alpha is somehow involved in the large energy spike our sensors picked up." The young man said before turning to look at his commanding officer, an aged man with short white hair and a long officers trench coat looking to be deep in thought.

"Who the hell are you." The Colonel whispered to himself, as he tried to connect the pieces of the puzzle in front of him,

"Sir, Drone footage will be up momentarily." The young Ensign said calmly, his eyes never leaving his terminal screen as his hands danced across the keys.

"Good, show it to me." The colonel said quickly, his last train of thought lost in favor of some potential concrete answers.

A moment a window appeared on the terminal, both the Ensign and officer staring intently at it as the aerial satellite drifted lazily over the sight of the recent disturbance.

Both the men's eyes widened in surprise.

"Impossible." The Ensign whispered to himself, his eyes wide as saucers and he tried to comprehend exactly what he was seeing.

The colonel's mouth was agape as his hands shook slightly from a mixture of rage and confusion, what he was seeing shouldn't have been possible, they had taken every precaution.

The old Colonel collected himself and made for his office, a utilitarian room composed of a solid looking oak desk and his beloved nation's flag hanging on the wall behind it. With a deep sigh, the man sat in his comfortable chair and poured himself a generous glass of a strong amber liquid from his desk before picking up the phone on his desk and hastily poking in his desired number.

"Confirm?" Spoke a distorted and fizzled voice from the other end of the phone.

"Four, Seven, Eight, Epsilon, Niner, Tango, Six." The colonel said quickly before taking a long sip from his glass.

"Report."

"I have confirmation on a threat level zero."

"Say again, did you say threat level zero?"

"Affirmative."

"Copy, standby."

The click of the opposed end putting him on hold prompted the colonel to take another long swig from his glass and wait, he was shaken, hell anybody in his position would be. He'd never imagined he'd ever see that emblem again, the infamous sword, wings, and gears of the Brotherhood of Steel were all but admitted in history books after all.

The click on the other end of the phone caused the colonel to jump slightly before hearing the voice speak again, this time with a clear hint of hesitation.

"Your mission parameters have been changed, Collect Unknown Alpha for interrogation."

A/N

This chapter is a bit shorter than normal, I tried to get it a bit longer, but I felt like it ended pretty naturally so I didn't want to drag it out.

I'll be responding to any reviews submitted by guests on the previous chapters here from now on, although I'd much rather ya'll just log in so it could be a bit more back and forth.

Owenlinx - James isn't going to be anywhere near as OP as he was in the original, He'll be better at some things and absolutely shit at others, it really just depends on exactly what's happening and what gear is available to him at the time.

Guest - The only thing I really wanted to keep from the last story was the first chapter, It was one of my first decently written fanfic chapters ever, and I'm way too proud of its shittiness to completely scrap it. That being said, this chapter is pretty much proof I want to take a different approach to the classic RWBY x Fallout crossover of "Wanderer/Courier Joins Beacon and kicks ass to varying degrees".

Review dude - Hey there! I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far! I won't give the pairing away so early though. ;)

Guest - That has always been what fascinated me with the Fallout games, they're perpetually in the 50's but somehow also Sci-Fy. I'll definitely be delving a bit deeper into the cultural differences between James the gang at Beacon.

Lilbird04 - James will still be the weirdo he was before, but he won't always be the fun sarcastic guy he is now, some things will be dealt with in a far more serious manner than we're used to seeing from our resident wanderer.