Heavy, booted feet trampled the ground as the Locust drones surged through the crash site. A dozen of the ugly, reptilian beasts scoured the twin Ravens for any sign of life. The smoking wreckage of the large helicopters was spread over the entire street. One of the craft was split entirely open; it's crew of three, dead. The second Raven lay against a tall building, mostly intact. Debris from the crashes was scattered for almost a block. Large, smoking sheets of metal rested in the middle of the barren concrete, pinging as they cooled. On both vehicles nemacyst ink still bubbled. As three of the drones approached the second downed helicopter, a low, mechanical whirring stopped them in their tracks. A minigun, one of two mounted on the sides of each Raven, began to spin up. A pair of hands, rough and a little bloodied, gripped the handles. As the drones lifted their rifles, a barrage of concentrated fire tore them limb from limb. A sniper rifle shot exploded the head of a fourth drone as gunfire opened on the Locusts. After a few seconds, the firing stopped, and Locust blood poured over the ground. Six Coalition soldiers gathered around the wreckage as a seventh climbed out from behind the minigun. Together, the men wore the standard armor of the Coalition COGs; The heavy armor identified with the tough soldiers who wore it. The armour hadn't been in use long enough to lose it's blue sheen. Most bore the Lancer, the Coalition's workhorse; An assault rifle accurate up to medium range, built with an under-barrel chainsaw that gives the Gears an edge in close combat. A grizzled man, scarred from a life of combat, lifts a pair of COG tags from one of the fallen soldiers. His head was bald, and a scar ran from under his lips to cross his right eye. His face was lined with experience, and from the look in his eyes, it had been a bad experience. His name was Paul Gerhart, though many called him Cap. In the Pendulum Wars, Paul had lost his brother and his wife. His daughter, Teresa, kept him going for the time that followed. A pacifist at heart, Paul was haunted by his time spent killing. On emergence day, his daughter was slain by the Locust, since when Paul lost all of his reluctance to fight. Nearby, Eric Valance kneeled, scanning the road with his sniper rifle. Lowering the weapon, he pumped the bolt to slide a round into the chamber. His dark hair was just a little too long. His dark eyes betrayed his history as a combatant. Jace Torren leapt out of the grounded King Raven and grabbed the shotgun off of his back. The Gnasher was a powerful weapon, pumped by a lever-action handle. Jace, a master with the weapon, had short brown hair, with a beard to match. Eric slung his rifle on his back and nodded to Paul.
"Well, Cap. What do we do?" He said.
"Eric, please, don't call me that. I'm not a Captain anymore." Paul said, though without feeling. Even though he was only a sergeant in the Coalition, both Jace and Eric had stuck with him since the old days. His reluctance to lead his men to their deaths, coupled with his tactical intelligence, had led the surviving members of his command to respect him as a leader. He tapped his earpiece, but only static flowed out. "Command? Command, do you read?" Shaking his head, Paul slung his own Lancer onto his back. "Seeders." He told the squad. "They're our top priority. If they don't know we're down here, they can't come and get us. Before we do anything else," he said, raising the tags in his hand, "grab these. I won't give those Locust bastards the satisfaction." Nodding, the remaining men, all privates, dug through the carnage to find them.
"M...Maybe we should look for a Hammer of Dawn, off the Raven." Uh, sir. Said one soldier, once the men had finished. Slowly, a smile grew on Paul's face, like a sunrise after a long, bleak night.
"What's your name, private?" He asked.
"Uh, Davis, sir. Alex Davis. My friends just call me Davis. Sir." The young man said, saluting smartly. His helmet, as new as his armour, hid his face and muffled his voice. He was as green a soldier as Paul had ever seen. His Lancer, gleaming in the morning sun, showed no sign of use. Paul pointed at two of the soldiers he didn't know; One of them was a huge man, taller than Paul. The other one wore a scarf around his neck, and he was deeply tanned.
"You two. Names." Said Paul. The big man grunted.
"They call me Bear. This is Manny." He indicated the second man, obviously a friend.
"Alright Bear, Manny, see if you can find a Hammer." He said. With a nod, Bear turned to the complete wreckage and started towards it. A man named Ryan was sitting on a piece of chopper, a lieutenant Paul knew from their days together in the trenches. Paul waved him over, and nodded towards Eric and Jace.
"Ryan, I want you to head a squad. You take Bear, Manny, and Davis, the new guy. Jace and Eric will stick with me." Ryan, nodding, rubbed his chin. His scruffy blonde hair looked unkempt, and his stubble was in need of a shave.
"Will do, Cap. What's the plan?" Said Ryan. Paul, sighing, shook his head and looked at the sky. Clusters of nemacyst lay spread out over the sky like spilled ink, on a canvas.
"Alright, I'll take Alpha squad through the old hotel." He said, indicating the downed Raven. The crash had torn a large hole through the wall. "You take Bravo and head north, up the road. I want a radio check every fifteen; We don't know how many seeders there are or where, and I don't want to lose anyone out here. If you find anything, signal. Keep your eyes peeled." With a salute, Ryan pulled out his Lancer and whistled. He gathered the rest of the men with a hand signal, and started telling them the plan. With a single nod to his men, Paul climbed over the wreckage of the chopper and into the old hotel. The deserted lobby was once a plush paradise; Hard times had destroyed the hewn stone staircases and littered the marble floor with rubble. A fallen chandelier lay crumpled in the center of the scarred floor. Old bullet holes specked the walls, and a large hole in the ceiling revealed the wooden framework of the old building. A large hole was smashed in the wall opposite the three men. Paul, taking cover behind a wrecked counter, made his way to the opening. Paul reached the hole and aimed his Lancer around the corner as Eric quickly rushed to the other side. Aiming his rifle, Eric covered Jace as he sped out of the hotel. Paul and Eric followed behind him, staying low. The courtyard was empty of trees, and no grass grew on the barren soil. The hotel's rear wing blocked passage to the left, and a pair of double doors stood, boarded up, opposite the men. A fountain decorated the center of the plaza, and to the right, the yard opened to an old road. A sudden low rumbling caused the men to break for cover. Paul and Jace ducked behind the old fountain as Eric rolled into cover behind a low wall. They all recognized the siren song of a Locust hole, and they searched the ground nearby as it grew louder.
"Behind us! In the hotel!" Paul yelled as he leapt over the lip of the fountain to take cover inside it. Jace stood and raced back towards the torn open wall. Eric, leveling his Longshot rifle, popped of a round at the first drone to emerge, popping his head like a balloon. Jace hit the wall hard and lobbed a grenade around the corner. Two more drones climbed out of the hole and were cut into pieces by the explosion. Loose rocks tumbled down the hole as two more drones clambered out. One took cover behind the wreckage of the chandelier as the other rushed forward. Jace leaned around the corner and fired his shotgun, tearing off the drone's leg, as Paul pinned the other one down with Lancer fire. Three drones climbed out of the hole, but another sniper shot sent one tumbling, dead, back down the tunnel. Jace crouched and shot another Locust's leg out from under it, then pumped his shotgun and finished it off with a headshot. Paul covered Jace as he retreated from the building, his Lancer tearing the arm off of one of the drones. Three drones rushed out of the building and took cover behind a set of low concrete blocks. Their Hammerburst rifles tore chunks into the concrete of the old fountain, barely missing Jace as he rolled over the edge and into cover. Eric sighted his rifle into the cold eyes of one drone, but missed as the creature ducked back down. As they reloaded, Paul threw the squad's last grenade behind them, causing the drones to scatter. One rushed up to the fountain and was torn into greasy chunks of meat by Jace's Gnasher. As he levered another shot into place, a second drone butted him in the face with it's Hammerburst. The creature raised the rifle over his head, a sinister smile showing it's teeth. A sudden screaming of a Lancer, and the creature began to jerk wildly as the chainsaw tore through armor, skin, and bone, severing vital organs. The third Locust ran back to the hotel, but a shot from Eric tore into it's back leg. It stumbled and rolled, bloody, into the dust, dropping it's rifle.
Rubbing his face, Jace sauntered over to the frantic beast. It's mad clawing at the dirt was bringing it no closer to the emergence hole. Even as it slowly pulled itself on the ground, the remaining Locust in the hole undercut the tunnel, causing it to crumble into itself and seal. Lifting his heavy boot, Jace stomped the back of it's head, splattering gore across the dry earth. The three men stood up and reloaded their weapons, and set off without a word.