Ok, it's been a LONG time since I did this, so, sorry for the constant updates; this should hopefully be the last one you get.
The story is going to be slightly different, but follow relatively the same path. Please note that, while events that happen are part of the story line of GoW, some parts may be moved around and out of order. This is done purposefully.
I am hoping you guys like the new method I have for writing; if you don't, then I'm sorry.
If you happen to notice any mistakes, please bring them to my attention.
Gears of War belongs to Epic Games and Halo belongs to 343i/Microsoft.
A small orb sat upon the pedestal as the ship it resided in drifted listless in space. Its blue glow illuminating the rows of cryo pods on either side of it as the entity waited patiently. Data sifting over it as the entity categorized data in pockets within itself to sort what was necessary. The orbs light grew, casting shadows from objects littering the room; revealing the form sleeping within one of the chambers.
She had stood by idly, watching him. Wondering about him.
Did he dream?
What did he dream about?
Would they ever be rescued?
How much longer would they remain lost?
Would he die aboard this ship?
No, she can't let him-
She won't let him-
He was too important to just let-
The ship jolt, boxes and items careless in zero gravity unfazed by the sudden action as the orb began to melt away. In seconds, it reformed into a female clad in streaming data and knowledge. As she looked around, the ship emitted sounds of protest as it jolt once more. Faint sounds of ruptures on the hull echoed through the halls.
Something wasn't right.
Pulling up a screen, she brought up the status of the ship. An image of what remained of the Forward Unto Dawn highlighted several compromised areas.
"Hull integrity fourty-three percent? Life support thirty-nine percent and dropping...generator isn't responding we're on emergency power. Only six percent of the ships systems are even online. This doesn't look good..." swiping the image to the side, she brought up the list of cryo pods.
Watching each one pass by, she tapped on one in particular and the image enhanced with information on its contents.
A button popped up with the word 'Reactivate' on it and her hand hovered over it for just a second as if unsure. Glancing up at the pod in question, she clenched her hand into a fist before tapping the image.
"Warning: Cryostasis System Shutdown on Deck 4, Cryo-Pod 9939 in Array 93 stabilizing. Thawing process initiated, please have Medical Assistance on stand by." came the automated response as the pod depressurized and released a burst of white smoke with a loud hiss.
"Chief...wake up, I need you." the voice tried to hold back any sign of wavering.
It took mere seconds for movement to be heard within the pod as its resident awoke. The sheet of ice melted away just enough to let her see in and him out.
"Cortana? What's going on? Where are we?" she smiled as she turned to open the pod only to realize that it wouldn't budge since the generator was offline. Emergency power was being routed to more important necessities such as life support; for as little as it offered.
She seemed to dodge the question as she went about getting the ship in some shape of decent order.
"I rewrote your suits firmware while you were out." she slid the image of the cryo pods off the screen altogether as she searched for the gravity system and hoped it was still online.
"You've been busy." seemed like cryo hadn't changed him too much; which she was glad for.
"Hang on, let me turn on artificial gravity." came her only response and soon the auto response kicked in as everything hit the floor.
"Artificial gravity initiated." the AI let out a sound of irritation as she gave up on trying to open the pod.
"You'll have to execute the manual override, it's the handle above you." she watched as he looked up then pulled the handle dangling just above his head and the pod door lifted itself to open. The dry steam from the freezer burn swirled around him as he grabbed at the sides of his icy bed.
He proceeded to climb out and stepped over to her in just a few, mighty strides. Standing over the pedestal she stood upon, he looked around to see how bad the damage was.
Nothing had seemed to be damaged so far.
"Why did you wake me up?" before she could even respond, the ship violently shook and the emergency lights kicked on as the power went out.
"Warning: collision with unidentified planet imminent. Crash course estimated to contact with surface in T-Minus fifteen minutes." he didn't even hesitate to pull her from the stand and insert her into his helmet before running out the door.
"How did I miss approaching a planet?" the Chief let out a grunt as he turned the corner and slammed shoulder first into a door to force it open. Half a ton of armor making the process easy as the metal slabs flew a few meters down the hall before sliding to a halt.
"Cortana, can you track the escape pods?" he was met with silence for just a moment before she let out a hum of irritation.
"Negative, with the power down and barely any emergency power, I can't even bring up a map of the interior. Your suit's still booting up, I barely managed to get your H.U.D. and thruster pack online. By the way, you have a makeshift jetpack now, don't get any crazy ideas though, there's two of us in here now, remember." he stopped in a hallway that had windows lining the left of him.
Looking out one of them, he saw the planet approaching fast and looked to the wall on his right. A panel that could possibly be torn off gave him an idea.
His attention snapped back to the windows as one of them cracked when a piece of the Dawn broke off and collided with it. Turning back, he grabbed the panel and ripped it off.
"Then we're going with plan B." was all she heard before they were both free falling with the ship.
On the planet's surface, a war waged on, even in the deadly heat; as slowed as it was.
"These sonsofbitches love the underground so god damned much they retreat to it whenever it gets this hot. So why the hell are they trying to fight up here if they can't stand the sun or the heat?" a dark brown haired male sat in the shade of a destroyed building as the team took a small break.
"Unknown Corporal, their war with us seems to be a choice of rash decision more than a tactical assault." a bald male sat with his Lancer at the ready as he scouted the perimeter.
"Guess it won't matter once they're all dead, now will it?" the male with a rag tied on his head pulled out a canteen to take a sip of water.
"Alright Delta, keep your eyes peeled. The enemy is always around us." they all looked to their Lieutenant when his communicator crackled to life with a splitting screech.
"Lieutenant, we've just received word on a possible location of Alpha and the Resonator. Last known location was House of Sovereigns." with a tap to his ear piece and a nod of acknowledgment, the leader of Delta team gave motion for his men to follow and on they went.
It felt like hours had passed by as they marched on through empty streets cluttered with rusting vehicles, destroyed buildings, and overgrowth taking over much of what was left. Though their feet ached from the tiring walk, they were at least glad for the change in temperature. The cool breeze blowing swiftly through the gaps in buildings; a harsh reminder of why they were here as it blew light debris passed them.
They stopped as a bus hindered their progress as it covered from one end of the street to the other. Tipped on its side it lay jammed between a wall which concealed a park and a building in ruin, crumbling.
"Well that's just fuckin' great." the doo rag soldier muttered as he scanned for any possible path they could take around it.
The youngest soldier stared up at the sky as the team spread out to look for any means of getting to their destination.
"Yo Carmine, you gonna help us look or stare up at the sky all day?" the soldier looked to his comrade before looking back up at the atmosphere above.
"Have you ever heard of stars showing up in the middle of the day?" the question seemed to catch the other off guard as he turned his attention to the object of his team mates stare.
"No, can't say that I...have…what the hell?" a bright light stood out among the dreary gray and blue sky. "Marcus, what do you make of that?" the man in question looked up and shrugged as he rest his Lancer on his shoulder, tooth covered belt of the chainsaw facing the sky.
"Satellite maybe?" using his hand to block the sun from his eyes, he watched the ball of light move across the sky as it grew slightly bigger, "definitely gotta be a satellite, guess its orbit finally brought it close enough to bring it down. We should watch where we step, don't need it crashing down on our heads."
"Where do you think it'll land, sir?" the Carmine brother sat on a broken pillar as he continued to watch with interest.
"Dunno, don't care so long as we're not under it. We got a job to do." the leader walked over to their position, unsuccessful in finding an alternate route.
"Corporal Fenix is correct, we have pressing matters to attend to. Our objective is to retrieve the Resonator from Alpha Squad and activate it. Whatever is falling from the sky is beyond our control and duty." their attention was returned to their surroundings when the ground began to shake. Structures already barely holding together began to crumble as concrete and metal bits rained down upon them.
A dull cracking sound grew louder and louder before the asphalt of the road they had come from split a part. The lone car that had been resting unused for years fell into the growing ravine that now left them stranded in the courtyard with nowhere to go.
"Shit, now what do we do, Lieutenant?" the question was raised by Dominic, but was unable to be answered as Reavers flew overhead. Bullets rained down upon them as they dove for cover behind some bags of sand and crumbling barriers once used to block roads.
Occasionally aiming over the cover, they returned fire on the flying creatures as they flew by. Once gone, they made sure the coast was clear; ignoring a complaining Carmine as he struggled to get his gun to load, "damnit."
"What's wrong, Soldier?" the leader was surveying the road when he caught the sounds of frustration.
"My gun, it's jammed! See?" the youngest of the group stood to a crouch to show his commanding officer the problem; only to fall to the ground with a bullet lodged into his skull.
"SNIPER!" Marcus knelt before the field of cover and sprayed bullets at the fleeing beast.
"Damn...Carmine." having seen much loss since the start of this damned war, Dominic said a quick prayer for the fallen; hand grasping at a cross in his pouch. A gift from another that had fallen so very long ago.
"Eyes up, Santiago; where there's one, there's always more." taking point, the leader of Delta swept the area with his gun. He would not be taken surprise by another Grub waiting in the shadows.
A deep howling and roar came from within the complex they were standing in the shadow of. Doors slammed open as groups of Locust swarmed out of the building. Hearing the spinning up of a Troika, they dove to the opposite side of their cover just in time to hear ballistics fire crash against the hard surface.
"That damn Troika's gonna eat up our cover, someone take it out!" the anger in Marcus' voice drove his brother in arms to take action. Loading up a new magazine, Dominic peeked over the stone wall and with a few shots, took the gunner down, "nice work, Dom."
"Too early to celebrate, we need to clear out the area before we can move on." Lieutenant Kim was suppressing fire on the right side as the left was being flanked by Grenadier Locust.
Shots from Gnashers would occasionally pepper the sand bags on either side as they were too far out of their effective range, "Marcus, if we don't deal with those Grubs, they're gonna just keep advancing until they're on top of us."
"Got it, watch my back, I'm goin' in." before the either could protest, the Corporal was gone from cover.
Head down, gun clutched to his side; Marcus rushed the cover the shotgun wielding Locust were using like a mad bull. Taking the first by surprise, he knocked the gun from the beasts hands and unleashed a torrent of metal pellets into its chest. The second, however, was prepared for the rush tactic and shot from his position next to his fallen ally. The shot never met its mark as Marcus used the corpse as a shield before tossing it away. A click of the secondary trigger caused the attached chainsaw bayonet to rev up before the teeth ripped chunks of flesh from the enemies shoulder and neck area.
Wiping some of the blood from his face, Marcus dove into the hallway where many Locust were taking refuge. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the rest of Delta pushing up now that bullets weren't pelting them as often. Dominic pushed in the middle gateway while Kim took the right path. Closing in on the cornered creatures, they slaughtered each one before converging on the hole they had emerged from. Reaching to his belt, he plucked a device off that looked like a small flail. Clicking the button on the handle, he chucked it into the hole which sent dust flying up as it collapsed.
"That it?" Dominic looked around at the carnage that surrounded them, hoping that there were no more reinforcements. A sigh escaped him as the familiar screams of more Locust approaching filled the air, "I had to open my big mouth." Sliding to take cover from the building, the soldier offered cover fire as Grubs leaped from new Emergence holes now littering the street.
Hooking his gun on his back, Marcus grabbed the Troika that had previously caused them a bit of grief and sprayed down the approaching enemies. He ducked as a stray set of bullets nearly missed his head, though scratched the main gun of the sentry. Bodies now covered even more of the courtyard as more and more Locust seemed to just erupt from the ground.
The resounding ticking of the now empty mounted weapon caused the man operating it to ditch it. Relying on his trusted Lancer once more, Marcus shot short bursts of his ammo in any direction a Locust was. Eventually, they stopped coming up from the street and everything was silent once more.
"I'm keeping my mouth shut this time." the man was earned a slight smirk from his brother who simply strode over to their leader. He was collecting the CoG tags of their fallen team mate when he noticed the other approach.
"He'll be remembered, for now Command says that we should be able to cross through this structure. It's stable enough it won't come crashing down on us and will provide a small short cut to the House of Sovereigns." a glance back up at the sky revealed the star from before was a bit farther than before, it would touch down in a short while. Deciding to not worry about it, he simply turned and followed the Lieutenant and Dom to a door on the left side of the hall.
"I hope that satellite doesn't come crashing down on Alpha's head; be a bitch to make it all the way to them only to find them crushed with the Resonator." the ex-criminal shot his friend a look who simply shrugged as they waited for the door to open, "just saying."
"It's projected path seems to be out of our area. When it lands, it won't be near us. Command, this is Lieutenant Minh Young Kim, do you copy?" Lieutenant Kim tried to hail Command but only received a wail of static, "damn, communications are down. Let's just move, Locust are no doubt nearby and we don't need to waste anymore ammo." after typing in an access code, the door swung open but not without a loud creak from its age.
When the shrill sound died down, they were met with the distant sounds of gunfire and someone making a lot of commotion, "sounds like we might have found Alpha." Marcus commented as they jogged up some stairs and came to an overlook into an internal courtyard of sorts.
Down beneath them was a large male built like a tank who was shooting every Grub that came through the door at him. Eventually, they decided to retreat when their numbers were dwindling faster and faster as more and more of them fell to the ground.
"Is that just one guy holding off waves of Grubs?" Dominic noted as the man had only a Snub pistol as his means of fighting back, but it didn't seem to hinder his ability to take them down.
"That's right you ugly ass bitches, run from the Cole Train baby! WOOO!" the last standing Grub decided he didn't need his fellow soldiers to take on one human. The last mistake this one would make in its life time was to charge straight into the larger being.
Before it could even react, it was bowled over by the behemoth. Sprawled on the ground and its weapon knocked from its possession, it barely had time to look up as a metal covered boot came crashing down on its head.
The three soldiers of Delta simply watched on as the energetic being crushed the Locust with ease, "damn, someone had a great time." making their way to the stairs that would lead them down; they heard a grenade go off which ushered them to get a move on.
Turning the corner, the three of them ran to the soldier who was on one knee with a dead Grub being strangled in his hand. Black scorch marks from an explosion marred his brown skin, but he seemed to not be bothered by it or the blood dripping from his shoulder, "you alright?" Marcus tried to get the man's attention as he watched the shaking arm holding the beast slowly let go of its crushed windpipe.
Realization seemed to return to the man who looked up at the group standing over him, a wide smile crossed his face before turning deadpan as he stood up. With his good arm, he saluted the Lieutenant who looked over at his two team mates, "at ease Soldier, what's your name?"
"Private Augustus Cole, sir. Alpha Squad." nodding, the Lieutenant looked over the bodies, hoping to not find the rest of his squad among them.
"Where's the rest of your team, Private?"
"Layin' low over at the tomb. We been tryin' to get in contact with command, but radios don't work for shit, sir." Marcus kept his eyes on the landing above, not wanting more reinforcements to drop in on them. If there was one thing any war taught him in his years of serving; it was that the enemy was always looking out for you to drop your guard.
One of the few things the Grubs shared with mankind it seemed.
"Yeah, we noticed." raising his gun, Marcus eyed an area where he thought he saw movement, but it turned out to be the wind blowing a banner about.
"It's the Seeders, sir. They jammin' our signal; we take them out, we reestablish communications with command." the Lieutenant nodded as he stepped over a body.
"Lieutenant, we should make those Seeders priority one. Communications with command will prove vital as we get closer to Alpha." Dominic scavenged the area for any spare ammo that would fit their guns; especially his choice in firearms. While most Gears were given a standard Mk II Lancer Assault Rifle, Dominic Santiago chose the more enemy preferred Hammerburst. It gave him a sense of satisfaction whenever he tore through a Locust body with their own weaponry. It was only the start of what he would bring to their forces for what they had taken from him.
"Affirmative, we'll move in and take out the Seeders. Command should hopefully be able to reach us and give us any new orders while we've been blind." Marcus took an offered grenade from Dominic who had loaded a pouch containing ammo on his person. Sense of direction renewed, the four left the area through a door the Locust had retreated to escape from the lone fighter.
After seconds of silence, Dom nudged Marcus who gave him a look, "can you believe it, Marcus? Number eighty-three is working with us." not easily impressed, the man simply shrugged only to get a slug to the shoulder.
"The one and only, baby!" the Cole Train had always loved his admiring fans; he kept up his courageous and daring personality especially in such dark times. After all, he had given up Thrashball to join the Coalition with the hopes of making a difference.
"You remember Marcus? Played for the Cougars? Defensive lineman? Division playoffs?" in return, Marcus gave a light chuckle.
"I remember you owin' me twenty bucks." shaking his head, Dom went up some stairs as the others followed.
"Yeah? Check back in after we win this war." they fell silent as they pressed on, knowing what happens when you skulk through buildings deep in Locust controlled areas too loudly.
Stepping through a door, their aim snapped to a plank of wood that fell near the end of the hall they stood in, "anyone else getting a bad feeling about this?" two of them aimed down the one end of the hall, over a gap in the floor where a body rest. The other two made sure nothing came crashing through the boarded up window to their left.
"Dom, every time you say something like that, something bad eventually happens." sure enough, they heard movement echo down the hall, "case in point."
"Woo baby, this son of a bitch has seen better days, I tell you what." the two looked over at the corpse that was torn a part and missing its head, "what you think happened here?"
"Let's not dwell on it, Jack, rip this door." as if appearing from nowhere, a hovering bot revealed itself as it ignited a torch to cut the door open. As it began, a loud wail that shattered the window echoed down the hall, "WRETCHES!"
"I stand corrected, this time it's Cole's fault!" revving his chainsaw up, Marcus and Dom made quick work of the small monkey like creatures on their side. Midway through cutting another of the small enemies in half, one from the ceiling jumped down on him, knocking the weapon from his hands.
Grabbing the small beast, he tried to pry it off of him as it struck out to claw and bite at his face. A bullet met its head and he successfully threw it off of him before turning to whoever shot it. Standing there with his Snub pistol held out, one Cole Train had a smug grin from ear to ear, "I gotchu baby!"
With only a few left to deal with, the bot opened the door and they ran out; the remaining Wretches following them through. With only light armor the remaining few were quick to fall as the four stood in a vacant building.
"Oh god, what is that smell? It's like someone is burning piles of shit that have been sitting in the sun all day." covering his face, Dom looked out the window and saw the source of the foul odor, "found a Seeder."
"Lieutenant, how do we proceed? Seeder hides are too thick to be penetrated by normal arms fire." as the leader thought of a plan, Dom searched through a pile of rubble and broken furniture.
"How about this?" the others turned to see what he had discovered only for it to be tossed to Marcus. Catching the weapon, he looked it over; a feeling of familiarity washed over him.
In his grasp was the Hammer of Dawn portable targeting device. A project of his fathers many years ago; it was supposed to turn the tides of the old war in their favor. Instead it brought ruin to their cities as they unleashed it upon their own world. Its use having been re-purposed to burn the Locust that plagued their home.
"The Hammer of Dawn should do the trick and it looks like we have a bit of a clearing in the sky. Make your shots count, Corporal." kicking the door open, Cole ran out to take cover as the repulsive beast half way into the ground spat out smoke covered objects. Like homing missiles, the floating creatures dove down at the Gears who gave Marcus covering fire as more Locust on the opposite side rushed out of the building.
A targeting grid fell upon the planet as he locked onto the Seeder unaware of the current threat. Nearly a second later and a beam of heat and light collided with the exposed end, though the creature lived through the blast. In retaliation, it spat out more of the aggressive offspring from its massive mouth.
"Shoot it again, Marcus!" Dominic was in the middle of reloading when a Nemecyst Spore dove down on him. It exploded before it made impact as their Leader opened fire, puncturing its frail body with a barrage of bullets.
Lining up once more, Marcus targeted the beast and another assault of heat tore into the body of the abomination. The beast burrowed into the ground, gone for now and hopefully would die sometime later from its sustained wounds.
Another Grub was shot down as Cole and Dom lowered the bridge for Delta to cross, the wheel requiring the strength of both individuals to turn. Taking the fight straight to their adversaries, Marcus hung near the back as he only had his emergency pistol with him that he didn't want to waste the ammo of. His fellow Gears did enough for him though, mowing down anything that stood before them.
Gunning down the last of the Drones, the four peered into the hole left behind by the Seeder; smoke emitting from the dark pit.
"Whew, man, this thing is awesome, why don't we use it all the time?" Dom turned to Kim who looked up at the sky as Marcus kicked in a piece of rubble from the broken tiles surrounding the hole.
"Because it only works when outside and when the satellites are overhead; line of sight is also a requirement. So a cloudy day can ruin your plans for using it. We got lucky the conditions were perfect for use." one of the few conditions that made practical use of the Dawn very minimal until the arrival of E-Day.
"Let's get moving, Alpha's still waiting for us." their attention turned to the door that had closed after the last wave of Locust as the Lieutenant tried to hail command once again, but only got static, "Seems like there might be more Seeders, keep an eye out."
As Kim was putting in the access code to the door, Dom voiced his complaint, "how come those bastards just kick open security doors, but we need access codes and security clearance? It's pretty much the end of the world, unless you're barricading yourself in, we shouldn't need them."
"Next time you get a chance, why don't you ask'em real nice like, Dom?" looking at his brother, he saw the slight smirk, a sign he was being a smartass. He had missed this of his old friend; days where they'd get into all kinds of trouble. Even after the scolding Dom's mother would give them, he'd always get cheered up by the sarcastic remarks of the other. Promises of getting away with their schemes next time.
As the door was kicked open, the group ran through a mostly empty library before coming to another overlook. Inside was a Seeder which had destroyed the inside pathway that used to be traversed, "today must be my birthday." Marcus muttered as he began to lock onto the creature as it spat out a cluster of Nemecyst.
Before he could secure the coordinates, a Longshot round bounced off of the weapon, causing him to reel back in recoil, "contacts, take'em down while Marcus roasts that ugly bastard!" wasting no time, the three shot Locust after Locust as they appeared around them.
Hearing the sounds of enemies reloading, he leaned over and locked onto the Seeder; fingers tapping impatiently against the body of the weapon. Hearing the confirmed beep that it was ready, the beam rained down from the broken window. A cry of pain came from the creature, but nothing more as it spat out more Nemecyst in desperation, "when did these things get such thick skin?" he had heard Dom complain, but his attention was on the Hammer as he waited for the targeting system to come off of cool down.
Before he could try to call upon the Hammer once again, a hail of bullets flew over his cover, locking him down. Pulling out his pistol, he returned fire at the two Locust across from him. A few hit the enemy, but most lodged harmlessly into the wall behind them, "Corporal, don't waist ammo aiming like that!" grumbling as he slammed a new clip into the pistol, he crouched to get a good view of his targets before shooting four shots in their direction.
One hit a Grub in the jaw, breaking it and killing it in the process, the other three met the shoulders and chest of the second. It was only wounded and now staying in cover. Taking that as an opportunity, Marcus took up the Hammer once more and locked onto the Seeder as more Nemecyst floated through the air. Another rain of heat and light burned the Locust deployment to a crisp; the body falling limp before sliding into the hole it had emerged from.
"Two down." getting up, Marcus lead the others across the overlook and down some stairs. Turning left, he spotted a Hammerburst that was most likely dropped by the enemy and snatched it. It was better than just having a pistol and the HoD as his only means of fighting back.
Stepping out onto the walkway, they neared the charred E-hole where the Seeder had sunk in, "Command this is Delta Squad reporting in."
"Copy that, Delta; I'm reading you but your signal is very weak." a sigh of frustration elicit itself from Kim's throat but he kept his composure.
"Affirmative, we are working on the problem. Currently en-route to rendezvous with Alpha." the comms erupt with static as a new call came through.
"Delta this is two-four, are you with Alpha? Is the LZ clear? Running low on fuel, over."
"Negative, two-four! LZ is hot and Alpha is still out there!" the answer he received was more static as the call died, "we need to move, Delta!"
Approaching a new room with stairs leading to an elevated door, Wretches ran down at them. One Drone hid behind a pillar as Delta Squad gunned down the infernal monsters. Turning their attention to the Locust in hiding, Marcus and Dom cornered it before shooting it from both sides.
"Oh man." the two members of Delta jogged up the stairs to see what was found; what they came across was enough to cause Dom to gag. A body was lying in the middle of the small side room; arms, legs, and chest covered in scratches and blood. Most notably its head was barely attached to the body by a strip of flesh as maggots and flies swarmed the corpse.
"What the hell happened?" Marcus knelt down and picked up his CoG tags, but Cole already knew who it was.
"Rohas...damn." extending his hand out, he offered the member of Alpha the tags; it was his squad mate, he deserved them, "hopefully Baird's still got the Resonator."
A question resurfaced that had been burning in the back of Marcus' mind, "what's so important about this Resonator? It's a part of Hoffman's 'big plan', but what's it going to do?" Kim remained silent as he opened the door for them and they climbed the stairs.
"Lightmass Bomb, we're going to drop it into the heart of Locust operations, map out their network, then rip it out." was all Dom needed to say for the other to understand. As they neared the top of the stairs, they heard the familiar growl of a Locust.
"Hear that? Sounds like we got more company." the Cole Train ran up ahead of them and opened fire as a few Locust had taken cover in what used to be a lounge in a library.
As Marcus looked around, he figured those that used to come here were of 'higher' standards. The discarded wine bottles and tipped over cigar ash trays gave away much.
Tearing his attention away from the destroyed room, he saw another discarded Hammer of Dawn laying next to a battered body. Inspecting it, he saw it was in disrepair; the main focus beam was shattered, the frame twisted. The targeting device looked like it had been stepped on by something of substantial weight. The body was in worse shape; it looked as though it had gone through a shredder before being pounded down and tenderized. He simply tossed it away as three Nemecyst floated into his sight.
While everyone else fought, Marcus used the distraction to bring down the Hammer on the Seeder just below him. This one was a bit sturdier as it took three hits from the Hammer before it crawled out of the hole in an attempt to avoid the strikes of blistering heat. Disoriented it slammed against walls as it ran in a circle before flipping onto its side. The scent of its flesh was carried on the wind as smoke lingered in dark wisps.
As he looked down at the creature in disgust, he heard the clank of something landing at his feet. Sparing a glance at his boot, he saw a primed grenade and swiftly kicked it back down. The action rewarded him with the sound of several Grubs being caught in its blast.
"That's the last one; both for the Seeders and the Locust. Hopefully." throwing the Hammer down when it buzzed as it lost connection and the power supply died; he searched the area for a new weapon to take its place. Settling for a Gnasher with at least half of its ammo in stock; he clipped it to his back.
"Command this is Delta, all Seeders are down." Marcus took a seat on a broken wall rail as he waited for their next set of orders. No doubt it was to complete the initial objective of retrieving the Resonator.
"Reading you loud and clear, Delta." nodding to the confirmation; Kim stepped over some debris before motioning to the others to move.
"Proceeding towards Alpha's last known location.
"That's great news, stand by for Alpha." and then the comms went silent for a few seconds.
"Hello? This is Alpha, where the fuck is our reinforcements?! We're getting shot at from all directions, over!" Marcus flinched slightly as did Dom when a loud voice cut through their earpieces.
"Baird baby! How you been?" the Cole Train must have learned to deal with such abrupt bouts of loudness.
"Delta is currently in the House of Sovereigns, we're moving to your position now, over." the sound of a pissed off soldier caused Marcus to silently wish Dom had just left him to die back in Pen. This war was not something he looked forward to returning to.
"You don't say? How convenient; because there's Troika's firing from your rooftop, over!" wishing to be done with the assignment, Marcus and Dom went to the open door that would lead to the rooftop overlooking the tomb.
"We'll take care of it, over and out." the two other members of the Coalition raced on after the two.
All four running as fast as they could, they eventually ended up on a balcony overlooking Alpha's location. Sure enough, they were being gunned down by turrets about two levels above their current position.
Charging into a room on the right, they entered some kind of classroom where a Drone ran across from them seeking cover, "contacts, take them out, Delta!" Kim shouted as they gunned down the fleeing enemy.
Rushing into the next room they found the rest of the Locust's squad hiding against doorways and tipping over tables for cover. Moving in sync, Dom and Marcus charged straight ahead; both Gears gunning down everything on their side as Cole and Minh broke off left to finish off whatever lie ahead. They were stopped however, when they turned into a corridor and were sprayed with bullets from a Troika stationed at the end of the hall.
"Take the right!" Marcus called as he ran into the door just to the side; Gnasher ready, he blew the heads off of the Wretches that jumped at him. Creating a path for his fellow soldiers, the group ran all the way to the end.
Reaching to his belt, he took off the grenade Dom had given to him earlier and threw it out into the hall. Two explosions told him that both the gunner and the gun were down. Diving across the hall to the door opposite the one they cleared, Cole and Kim shot down the Wretches that were following them as Dom and Marcus took point. Running down two a flight of stairs, they came to some sort of waiting room where even more Grubs flooded out of nooks and crannies.
"When it rains it pours, eh Marcus?" the other couldn't help but take a jab at their own luck as they shot down even more of the ugly bastards screaming at them.
"Let's hope someone brought a fucking umbrella, I'm running low on ammo here." was his response as his Hammurburst clicked, telling him it was empty once more.
The room now clear, the two ran up some stairs opposite them as Cole and the Lieutenant caught up to them. Marcus' sprint slowed to a walk as he entered a room he wished he'd never see again. One of the infamous Coalition Halls responsible for throwing him in Penitentiary.
"Beautiful place, many great moments were held in this room." the soldiers normal deadpan features turned to a scowl as their leader fawned over the room.
"Just as many lies too." he never missed the heated stare from his superior.
"You've got a lot of nerve, Corporal. I know about your trial, what you did." Dom stepped in between the two, a frown set upon his worn face.
"In all due respect, Lieutenant, sir; his trial was a sham." before the leader could say another word, their attention was drawn to the top of the stairs as the sounds of Troika fire erupt from the open door just ahead.
Deciding this conversation was over with, Marcus ran up the stairs; his shotgun at the ready with only eight shells left. At the peak of the staircase were two Grubs manning turrets which rained hell down on Alpha. Nozzle pointed to the back of the beasts head and a pull of the trigger freed up one of the Troikas. The other became vacant when its occupant was shoulder charged off the building by a running Cole Train.
"Can we get some freakin' help down here?!" came the irate tone of the Alpha member. Wasting no time, Cole and Marcus manned the turrets and provided cover fire.
Puddles of blood containing chunks of flesh lay scattered about the street as the last Drone was gunned down. Seeing a way to climb down, Delta descended to the street and moved to converge on Alpha's cover.
They were met half way by a blonde haired CoG who looked indifferent about seeing his team mate again as they met up in the street, "told you I'd be back Baird baby!"
A roll of his eyes and a motion for his team mate to turn around was all he received before hooking some device onto the mans back.
"Two-four, we're at the landing zone, ready for pick up." Kim hailed as the two of Alpha prepared to leave.
"Copy that, we have visual, prepare for pickup in five." Cole made a sound of being ill.
"Man, I puke on those things every time." Dom stepped away from the Thrashball player and chuckled before looking in Marcus' direction.
"Guess I know who I'm not sitting next to." the other, however, was too busy observing their surroundings. Something didn't sit right with him, he had a bad feeling in the pit of his gut.
"...where's Rohas?" everyone's attention turned to the blonde for but a moment; Delta knowing full well what happened to their team mate.
"Didn't make it...Wretches got the poor man." Cole held out the CoG tags that had been turned over to him and Baird sighed in frustration for the loss of a member of Alpha.
Calculating blue eyes scanned the environment as birds flew overhead; their cries a warning on the wind. Even as the beating sound of the Raven's blades came into earshot, Marcus felt an uneasiness about the area.
His feeling confirmed when their ride was blown down by Nemecyst. Watching as the burning wreckage of their bird get shot down, they barely moved in time to not be rolled over by it. Broken rotating blades barely missing their backsides as they dove to the side.
Within seconds of it coming to a stop gunfire erupt behind it. Locust were swarming their front as they pressed forward. Outnumbered and outgunned, the Gears did their best to snuff out as many enemies as possible.
Careless Locust Grenadiers that had no more cover to use to move up were shot down before they even got close. Longshot bullets lodged into the concrete as Sniper Drones took aim while normal swarming Drones moved up the sides.
Separated by debris that came down with the Raven, Minh Young Kim fired on as many Locust as he could see through the fire and smoke, "they're flanking us!" his call got the attention of Alpha who returned fire on several flanking Locust as the Lieutenant backed up to get to a more secure means of cover.
From the smoke came a giant of a beast, a Locust that towered over even the tallest of man. It's form clad in a black suit with brown armor that covered all but its head. Golden eyes bore into the back of his target, his prey. The unaware soldier firing back at the horde in front of him as the newly arrived monster made its way out of the fire.
As if sensing something was coming, the Gear turned around and spotted the behemoth Locust. Pulling the trigger, he looked to his gun as it clicked; empty. A sneer crossed the mans face as he engaged the Chainsaw bayonet and raised it to the creatures chest. He fought for the weapon as a large hand grabbed the gun by the saw and ripped it from the smaller beings grasp. With a kick to the chest, the Locust sent his foe flying a few feet to land on his back. With a few mighty strides, he stood over the squirming figure before lifting him by the throat.
Turning his attention to Kim to make sure the other was alright, Marcus watched as this new enemy pulled a large blade from its back. Dom held his brother back and forced him to retreat as he tried to run to aid their commanding officer who received the blade to his abdomen.
"Marcus c'mon! There's nothing you can do for him, he's gone! We need to secure Alpha and the Resonator, now move!" unable to tear his eyes away from the limp form of Lieutenant Kim for what seemed like an eternity, he chanced a glance at the killer before two doors were closed; cutting him off from the horde.
He stared at the door in silence as Baird and Cole barricaded it with whatever they could find. After several minutes of silence as he remembered that things face, he turned away and contacted command.
"Corporal Fenix to command," he paused to take a breath; exhaling as the rage boiled within him, "Lieutenant Kim is dead, we're blocked inside the tomb with no way out." for a second, there was silence before the communications let off its familiar screech.
"Repeat; did you say Kim is dead?" the tone of Miss Stroud held uncertainty, as if she could not believe what the had just told her.
"Affirmative. K.I.A., now about an evac? We've got Grubs knocking at our door, we can't hold out here forever." she let out a sigh from her end as she seemed to be looking at something, possibly schematics to their location.
"Copy, there appears to be a courtyard on the far end of the complex. That's your best bet for safely landing a King Raven." the communication signaled that it had been ended as Marcus turned and saw the blonde wiping his hands on his pants.
"Aren't you Baird?" the question got the man's attention and he strode over to the other.
"Yeah, I am asshole; question is: who the fuck are you?" ignoring the question for the moment, all guns were raised when a loud scream tore through the building, "shit, don't make a single fucking sound!" his tone had fallen to a whisper as he stared down the open hall.
"What the hell was that?" Marcus muttered, adhering to the advice of the other.
"A Berserker; they're a fast and heavy attitude with a penchant for blood. They'll blindly charge at just about any sound thinking its food." Marcus drummed his fingers against the body of his weapon as the silence drove on and nothing happened for moments at a time.
"How do we approach?" the blonde member of Alpha looked at him from the corner of his eye before lowering his gun.
"First not even bothering with your weapons. They're useless; ballistics fire just bounces off of them as their hides are tougher than stone. So unless you have something to penetrate that, I'd put your weapon away. You'll just waste ammo trying." staring the other down for a few seconds, he conceded and lowered his gun.
"Then what?" staring down the hall once more, they heard and felt the ground shake as something stomped about in the next room.
"Then? You don't get caught. Move slowly and quietly; it won't notice you. There's no fighting this bitch, you can only try to get around her and run away if possible." the shaking stopped as a shadow was cast at the end of the hall. The Gear with them began to panic and ran down towards the shadow as it moved away.
"I ain't dying today! I'm getting out of here!" his screams of fear turned to screams of agony as he turned the corner and presumably ran straight into the Berserker that was patrolling. The survivors watched as a splash of blood hit the wall and floor before the stomping continued, growing more and more distant.
Slowly, Marcus moved to the end of the hall and looked into the next room. Walls and pillars were smashed and left in worse condition than most of the city; but the Berserker was nowhere to be seen. Looking down at the body of the soldier that ran, he saw a Hammer of Dawn covered in the victims viscera. Caring little for the state of the weapon save for its operational status, he set his Gnasher down and toted the portable deployment device, "Anya, what's the status on the Dawn?"
"Operational and in position above you. Attempts to utilize it must be swift, Corporal; clouds are moving in and the satellite will soon move out of range." turning back to the group, Marcus motioned for Dom to follow him.
"Dom, you're with me; you two stay put until we deal with this thing." shrugging in indifference, Baird took a seat on some rubble to wait.
"Your funeral, jackass." Cole just smiled before saluting the two.
"We'll be waiting here for your signal, Corporal." and so the two silently made their way through the next room. The sound of stomping non-existent as they entered the next room and still found nothing.
"It's too quiet, where do you think she went?" Dom asked in a hushed tone as they made their way up the hall to a door. As they got halfway, the door was smashed down and the abomination screamed at them, "Marcus, run!" they barely made it through the door on their right as the bulldozing Locust charged at them.
"Get it to follow us! We need it outside if we're going to smoke it!" he shouted in hopes it would get the beasts attention. Sure enough, it came barreling through the wall right at him and broke down a door for them.
"We can use it to clear the way, Marcus." Dom pointed at the door on the other side of the next room and they ran as the Berserker regained its senses. Dom shot it with his Snub pistol as it lingered in the doorway, "come on you ugly son of a bitch! This way!" with a scream to rival a Wretch, the behemoth ran at them recklessly and broke down another door. Taking some of the frame with it, it spun around to try and find them with its near blind eyes.
They gunned passed it and headed for what they hoped was the last door they needed to break down; they only had a few minutes before the Hammer would return to offline status. Not even needing to get its attention; the Berserker chased them and once more tore down what blocked their path. Now in the courtyard; Marcus looked up to see the clouds beginning to block out the sky and their means of taking this thing down.
Aiming at it, he held the trigger to lock in coordinates but the beeping got its attention. Barely getting out of the way as it stampeded in his direction, he tried once more to lock on and once more it charged at him, "damnit! I can't get it to stay still long enough to charge the shot!"
"Baird said they were fast, how can we slow it down?" Dom called before diving as it ran at him. Marcus looked around as Dom ran from the heavy being; eyes scanning for anything that could hinder its movements. All he saw were bits of broken glass and crumbling stone structures surrounding a fountain.
A light caught his eye as he looked beyond the fountain. Something was falling from the sky and it was heading right for him. The scream of the Berserker brought his attention back to the battle and he turned to run as Dom sprinted towards him, beast in tow. As it passed the fountain, however, the light smashed through the structure and knocked the rage induced monster off its feet. The two looked back in time to watch it hurl something that was pinning it down across the courtyard before it ran at them again. This time, with a noticeable limp.
It was wounded and it was a bit slower.
"If only that piece of satellite would have crushed it altogether." Dom muttered as they used what remained of the fountain to put some distance between the enemy and themselves.
"Dom, look, it's hurt. Whatever hit it, it slowed it down." he tried his luck and aimed the Hammer of Dawn at the circling Locust only to keep losing sight as the rubble got in the way. Having enough of the humans antics, the Berserker lived up to its name and smashed through the remains of the broken fountain.
Dom and Marcus were thrown back as it collided with them; the Hammer flew from his grasp to a decaying and burned bush near the wreckage of whatever fell from the sky. Rolling onto his stomach, Marcus crawled towards the gun as fast as he could. Nails digging into the muddy soil beneath them as he crawled over ash from the smoldering pile of metal.
"Marcus-MARCUS!" looking back at his fellow Gear, he reached for the weapon as the Berserker rose her fists over a trapped Dom who was stuck in a corner.
"DOM!" his hand grasped the stock of the targeting weapon as he pulled it towards him; he wouldn't make it. Even if he did manage to lock on, Dom would be caught in the blast.
Getting up on one knee, he tried to run to his brothers side when all of a sudden a blur rushed by him. The roar of the Berserker was cut short as it was thrown back by something tackling it directly around the waist. Stumbling back, the behemoth screamed down at the thing that stood before it.
At first, Marcus thought he was hallucinating. He couldn't think for a second what he saw was real. It was something that looked like a man or at least a human standing before the enraged brute that almost took the life of his closest friend. It seemed too...machine like, though. It was covered in green metal plates all the way up to its helmet. The layer of black underneath the green made it almost seem like a robot.
Turning his attention to Dom, he ran to his friend and dragged him away from the two who were staring each other down. For moments, nothing happened as they continued to trade glares. Then, the robot being moved and that's all the Berserker needed as motivation to begin swinging. The two thought the entity was going to be clobbered by the hulking thing; but they couldn't believe when it dodged every swing with speed that seemed to rival its own. They watched as it dodged left and right, even running up the beasts front to back flip off of it and create some distance as well as disorientate it.
"Marcus, is this for real? Are we really watching some...thing, out move something that bulldozed half the tomb?" Marcus said nothing as he simply kept his eyes on the green being that moved around the courtyard. Sometimes it moved too fast for him to even keep up; there were points where it almost seemed like it never even moved, yet it struck out.
The Berserker had enough of the smaller foes antics and charged at him; at first, Marcus thought it would just dodge away like it had when striking. Instead, it raised its hands and caught the creatures fists. Its metal boots digging into the mud as it was pushed back a few inches before coming to a halt. Looking down at the Hammer of Dawn in his hands, he took aim and locked on to the now still Berserker.
Upon seeing the laser grid collecting to the main focus point, the green being jumped back right as the pillar of light and heat slammed down onto the ground. Dying grass burned and faded to ash as the satellite struck the land. Still not defeated, the Berserker charged at the two laying by the open door to the tomb. They scrambled to get to their feet as they saw the pain train rushing in their direction; until it suddenly was redirected into a wall.
The green enigma that had been battling the creature had slammed itself shoulder first into the Berserkers side, sending it to the right and into a wall. As it took a step back, the brute ran back out of the destruction it had caused a much slower speed than before. Slow enough the being simply side stepped it as it turned to face the tiring monster. Marcus noticed two things in its hands; in one, a Frag Grenade, in the other, some kind of pistol.
As the Berserker was stunned for the moment, Marcus began to lock on to the current location of it in the middle of the courtyard. Hearing the beeping, it turned and went to charge at them when a grenade suddenly flew into its face. The crack of a pistol rung through the air as the explosive detonated in the face of the towering Locust, stunning it long enough for the Hammer to bring down another shot. It screamed in agony as the heat consumed it and it fell to the ground, spent.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Dom laughed as he slugged his fellow Gear in the shoulder, "alright, that's what I'm talking about!" they heard footsteps and turned to look as Baird and Cole came running out.
"Hey you guys dead….yet..." they stopped in their tracks as they saw the dead Berserker laying but a few feet away. However, what had their attention was the green machine looking entity standing over Dom and Marcus as they stared back up at it.
It tilt its head, as if talking to someone, before looked straight down at Marcus and then the Hammer of Dawn in his grasp.
"Marcus..." Dom muttered as he tried to get up, keeping his eye on the newcomer just in case.
"So...who's your friend?" came Baird's sarcastic comment as the three of them had a stare down.