Hello
I've been meaning to write a bit of fanfiction for Gears of War, especially for the stuff that happens after Gears of War 3. Epic games did a great job wrapping up the trilogy but left enough room to let your imagination run wild, so I said: what the hell might as well give it a shot. This is my first attempt at any fanfiction honestly so I'm just going to post this here as a kind of test run. I have written nothing more in regards to this story but I'll still leave it open for now. Reviews mean a lot and are extremely appreciated. Also, I am not completely versed in the GoW universe. I haven't read any of the books but I've spent some time reading up on the wiki and played the games, obviously. I'll try to keep the characters and world as true to the established fiction as possible but I'll probably slip up here and there so feel free to correct me.
Disclaimer: Epic games owns everything related to Gears of War.
Chapter 1:
The blue glow of the screen was the only indication that anyone was still around in the huge underground facility located on Azura. The massive room was located several stories below ground level and housed a multitude of Azura's controls. Anything from light sources to the railway system was operated from within this area. Corporal Damon Baird was assigned to oversee these functions, but before he could do anything he had to override a lot of the systems and repair some others.
Nobody explicitly ordered Baird to get to work; the Coalition of Ordered Governments was no longer but the soldiers of Delta squad still felt like it was their mission to craft a future. Unfortunately the Gears were not sure how to address this newest situation; rebuilding a society that has reverted -through decades of war- back to the Bronze Age. A society where only hardened veterans and a few stranded remained. These people were not intellectuals or scholars; they were simply men and women who fought for survival for the better part of the last two decades. What society could they possibly build? And what made them believe they would not repeat the mistakes of the past.
These were all questions Baird put on the backburner as he was busy uncovering the secrets of Azura, a beacon of hope in a sea of shit. The island was the only remaining fragment of civilization in a world where basic necessities were practically inexistent. As the smartest man left alive (as he would eloquently put it) Baird felt it was his duty to find out exactly what Prescott was hiding here. After a few days of adjustment, all of the Gears found their roles and began to work on improving the situation, each contributing with whatever skills they had.
Baird would spend day and night in the basement, working until the early hours of the morning before getting a few hours of sleep. Sometimes he would take a break from the control room to do guard duty which he secretly appreciated if only because of a certain Kashkuri woman. His shift included patrolling around the island at night but he would often just spend the night sitting at the beach with whoever else was assigned that night, chatting about everything and nothing or just taking a well deserved sleep. Baird wasn't exactly comfortable with literally sleeping on the job but the monotony of the patrols often made one sleepy, especially so late at night. He would only go on patrol with Sam on every other shift, and he enjoyed the time they spent together even if he would never acknowledge it.
Tonight was not one of those nights, tonight he stayed in the control room working. It was a small room within the larger facility but it was the very heart of the facility, its walls were adorned with monitors that shone a bright blue light and gave Baird all the information he needed regarding the secret research facility. He worked until his eyes hurt and decided to call it in for the night. As he switched off the last of the monitors and the room was enveloped in darkness, Baird noticed a very dim light escaping from the other end of the facility. He was sure he was alone down there and none of the electric components emitting small light signatures were situated in that particular area. Hesitantly he made his way towards the white light.