Gears of War: Crossroads - Part 1 - Chapter 1
14 years of war, the death of millions, and the near complete destruction of Sera… and yet, the war continues. War always continues…
The COG has one last great plan, but first they need time. Solace is an operation put in place to hold the Locust Horde back from reaching the walls of Jacinto.
Operation: SOLACE sends smaller forces to the nearby cities that surround Jacinto to set up and defend with as little manpower and resources as possible. Men and women on the front are stressed, worn, and nearly broken. Despite this, command has continued to state the importance that their future operation is seen protected until its use.
One nearby city, Thos, holds the deployed 141st company. Thos has been under consistent attack for weeks, but to little avail by the Locust. The attacks stopped a week ago, the 141st had thought victory. However, it seems that the Horde is preparing a large-scale invasion force just a few days walk from Thos.
The 141st command is preparing for the worst, and relying on countless desperate measures.
Though, there are those with measures of their own…
Two months after the deployment of the Lightmass Bomb
City of Thos
141st Command Post, City Hall
"God fucking damnit!" Lieutenant Colonel Harrison Warren shouted as he slammed the phone back onto its holder. The Lt. Colonel then took a minute, rubbing his temples. He turned to the left where a man stood at attention. "Get me Major Dosik and Major Hulee at once."
"Yes, sir!" He then quickly made his way out of the room. After he left Warren put his hands on his hips while bowing his head, slowly making his way over to the large table. He sat in the middle of the room, placing one of his hands on the table, with his other going through his short white hair.
Across from Warren stood a young sergeant with her arms crossed. She had black hair wrapped up in a ponytail, light tan skin, and brown eyes with light scars in numerous places on her face. She waited patently for the Lt. Colonel to address her. It didn't take long for Warren to feel her stare.
"You are dismissed, Sergeant. You have your answer." He then stood up straight, looking her in the eye. Warren waited, but the sergeant didn't budge. It was like she wasn't even breathing she was so motionless. Warren finally continued. "Is there more, Biondi?"
She continued to stand, arms crossed. Biondi had something on her mind, Warren knew that much. Biondi and her team, Sigma, had only been with the 141st for three months now, yet she quickly became his most outspoken soldier on current topics. Sometimes Warren admired that, other times it annoyed the hell out of him. Right now was the latter.
"You want me to say it? We're not getting any reinforcements. Command has other priorities they're choosing to focus on." Warren took in a deep breath. "We're left hanging in the fucking wind."
Biondi then placed her hands on the table, leaning forward. "We knew they'd do this, sir." Warren gave her a funny look with that comment. "Then why were you so damn determined to hear what command had to say on my reinforcements request?"
"Because sir, I have a plan that I believe will-"
"Another God damn plan, Biondi?" Warren smirked to himself. "Your men hate you yet?"
"The men under my command are damn good, and you know when I come forward with tactics, they deserve to be listened to… Sir."
Warren looked off to the side. One could mistake him for staring off into the distance, but in fact he did this whenever he took a moment to think to himself.
"I can't disagree to that, Biondi. Though, you would do well too watch your tone. It might be mistaken as arrogance, or that you had some sense of superiority over me that you believe you owned."
Biondi stood at attention at the comment. "I would never challenge your command or judgment, sir." Warren continued looking off to the side for a moment. Before looking back at Biondi, he reached into one of his pockets, pulling out an old smoking pipe. From the looks of it, it was broken in half. Warren held the part that went into your mouth; it had numerous bite marks all over it. He placed it in his mouth before looking back in her direction. "Alright, what do you got, Biondi?"
Biondi nodded before again leaning over the edge of the table, pointing at the huge map that sat in the middle of the table. This map showed the entire city of Thos and its outlining settlements. Biondi moved her hand around it as she spoke.
"We're setting up defenses all throughout this sector of the city in preparation for the advancing Locust: drawing them a bit into the city before taking the upper hand and entrapping them in gunfire." She looked up to Warren, pausing for a moment. He nodded before she continued. "Now, about an hour out from Thos is a small town by the name of Mos Caltas that the Locust would have to pass through-"
Warren cut her off. "Major Hulee already suggested we set up an ambush at Caltas, and I rejected the plan. It would cost too many men and resources we can't spare."
Biondi leaned back. "I'm not suggesting that, sir. What I was suggesting was you sending in my team and I. Alone." Warren looked her dead in the eyes. After a moment he looked down onto the map, looking again at Mos Caltas. After another moment, he looked back at Biondi.
"You and Sigma, sent to Caltas, alone."
"Yes Sir."
"I don't a suicide mission for you and your team is going to end quite profitable, Biondi."
"Sir, we can handle ourselves."
With that comment, Biondi reached into her belt pocket, pulling out a piece of paper and handing it to Warren. "As you can see, sir, I've outlined the tactics we will be using, fallback plans, and what little resources we'd require."
Warren looked through the note, glancing at the quick pencil work and supply requests. After going through it for a moment, he placed it down onto the table.
"You looking to achieve some brilliant, against all odds victory here, sergeant? Risking the men under your command for a possible incredible story to brag to the folks back at home?"
Biondi stared Warren straight in the eyes as he talked. Her eyes moved rapidly, focusing on his right eye, and then his left. She possessed a certain intensity that Warren couldn't disregard.
"Warren, sir." Biondi said firmly, "I would never risk their lives for personal gain. I don't command them, I serve with them. We fight as a family, and we're damn good at our job. Yes, this is a risky move, but one I believe we can make. I know Sigma is up to that task."
Warren slowly started his way around the table over to Biondi. "What if you're not? What if the Locust move right through you and your team? It'll be a slaughter."
Biondi looked down for a moment before continuing. "Sir, we're just eleven soldiers. If we fail, that's all you lose. Either way, win or lose, we'll take out ten times that number of grubs, and Thos gains more time."
Warren was standing right next to Biondi at this point. "You really think Sigma can do this? You look me in the eyes Biondi, and when you answer that question it better be without a single doubt in your mind."
Warren locked eyes with her. He had to admire her; this wasn't someone who had something to prove, this was a strong woman who had more confidence in her abilities then a lot of soldiers he knew. Her intensity was damn hard to match.
"We're ready, sir." Biondi said, after a quick moment of silence. To her surprise, Warren offered his hand.
"You've got your green light, Biondi. Just remember: I'm only agreeing to this because of the possible outcome." They shook hands. Warren then took a step back. "If Sigma pulls this off, you'll be saving a lot of lives."
Biondi again stood at attention, moving her hand up to salute. "Thank you, sir!" Warren nodded, turning to grab the paper she had handed him.
Warren gave it quick glance. "I'll see to it that you get what you need. Get your men prepped: you move out tonight at two-three hundred. You are again, dismissed."
"Thank you, sir!" She shouted, before finishing her salute and heading out the command room. As Biondi left, Warren stuck the broken pipe back into his mouth, chewing on it in thought.
Outside Thos
Sigma Convoy, Road to Mos Caltas
Two-three hundred had come and gone; Sigma was on the move. Dust kicked up as the Armadillo APC drove over the old highway asphalt.
"So why did you sign us up for this suicide mission again, boss?" Jonathon 'Ace' Bay questioned. Before Biondi could comment, Gary Mikael, or 'Gunslinger' interrupted over the coms.
"Because she's a stupid wench, that's why. We're all gonna die." Gunslinger then gave a sound as if being punted in the side. "Biondi maybe a bitch, but she knows what she's doing." Robert Norberg said, jumping onto the coms.
"You hear that men," Biondi stated. "That's faith in one's commander." She said with a grin. Norberg quickly commented back, "Shut up, boss man."
Most of the time the rest of Sigma gave Biondi a hard time, but she usually let it slide. They were who they were, and Biondi didn't want to change that. These men knew how best to fight, and as long as they did it as a team while following her commands, it worked out. On the battlefield, they were a damn good team. Off it, they were the best drinking buddies you could find.
Gunslinger and Norberg rode in Sigma's Centaur tank, which followed behind the Armadillo. Nicknamed 'Jackal', the monster truck of a tank was not nearly as fast as the APC, but it kept pace fairly well.
"Settle down you two, we've got another few hours ahead of us. I don't want to be forced to pull this thing over." Stated Jackal's driver, Het Nomad.
The driver of the Armadillo, Sui Bosworth tilted his head to the side. "Don't threaten Guns with that, he doesn't want to go on this mission, remember?"
Biondi stood behind Bosworth, in the part of the APC in front of the seats for the squad. She raised her hand up to her ear, pressing on her COM piece. "All the pilots are chatting, where are you in all this, Sophaur?" High above them, Steve Ein flew the squad's King Raven Gunship. Everyone in the team simply referred to Ein by his middle name, Sophaur.
"A bit lonely up here," Sophaur started, "But, I'm playing some tunes until we reach the town, so it's not all that bad." With the end of his sentence, he flickered the Raven's spotlight in front of the Armadillo.
Biondi pressed on her COM piece again. "Good to hear it, just stay awake until we get town side. You can take a nap then." The only response she got was another flicker of the spotlight.
"Its funny you should say that," Hugh McCrk, or 'Bub' began, "Hiwatari is already asleep in his seat." He said, pointing over to Hiwatari.
"You should all take pointers from him, when we reach Caltas we're going to be quite busy." Biondi then began to turn back to face the drivers seat, but stopped midway, looking back at the rest of the squad. "Hiwatari is also not piloting Sigma's Raven."
Bub looked over to Hiwatari. "I should probably get some shut eye too, might be the last time I get the chance too."
The newest recruit's, Erik Deva, head popped up with that statement. Biondi could tell he was nervous, as he even now he wore his full armor, helmet and all, but she refrained from commenting on it. Fellow squad mates offered reassurance better than a commander, or so Biondi thought. Sure enough, Deva tilted his head over to the man to his right, Joshua Guller.
"Hey, Guller." Deva started, "You don't think this is completely a suicide mission, do you?" He said it quietly enough, but within the enclosed space it wasn't hard at all to hear him. Guller just looked at him for a moment, and then looked up in thought. It was a bit in a mocking fashion, but everyone expected that by this point. Guller was mostly in either two moods: Sarcastic, or a smart ass.
Guller tilted his head to the right, and then looked back at Deva. "I hope not. I'm not planning on dying today. I already have my week planned out and everything. Dying sounds like too much effort, and would just be kind of a bummer."
Norberg jumped back onto the COM. "A very big bummer, buddy." Most of the squad chucked a bit; Guller and Norberg had this 'best buddy thing' going on, and sometimes it could get pretty funny.
Before Norberg cut off his COM, he gave a grunt in pain. Before anyone could respond, Gunslinger began talking. "Now Norby, before you enact your vengeance on me, listen to my proposal. You'll like this, mate." He then obnoxiously cleared his throat, loud enough for everybody on the COM to hear. "Now, everyone, I propose this: We shoot Biondi in the head, and call it a day."
There was a silence over the COM. A few moments later, Gunslinger was again heard. This time in pain from a freshly delivered punch from Norberg to Mikael's arm.
"Yeah, that sounds good." Norberg finally replied.
It was a good seven-hour trip from Thos to Mos Caltas. Within the next hour or so, everybody save the pilots were getting a nap in. Biondi decided to stay up with the pilots, but eventually, even she sat down to lean back against the wall, thinking to herself before dazing off. Though, she wouldn't sleep for long; she never did before a mission. Biondi only ever rested well after a mission had been completed.
It was going to be a long day.