Chapter 1 – Triumph and Survival

Marcus, Dom, Cole, and Baird were being recognized for their outstanding feat of destroying the enemy locust hollow. Cheers from all of the civilians and COG's of Teraz echoed through the great city. After Coronel Hoffman had given his speech detailing the detonation of the light mass bomb, the four members of Delta Squad shook hands and accepted thanks from the countless number of people.

"Finally, I'm getting what I deserve," Baird said, sitting down at a table with his squad mates.

"Hey, we all deserve this," Cole said, stretching back in his metal fold-up chair.

"I still can't believe that the damned thing actually worked!" Dom smiled, putting a hand on Marcus's shoulder.

"I know, I'm a little surprised we managed to kill that Locust General," Marcus let a hint of a smirk show.

"It's gonna be weird not having to fight as much anymore, with all the locust running scared," Baird also leaned back in his chair.

"You think we're done fighting?' Dom asked, almost amused, "We're probably gonna get shipped out to the front lines after this thing is over."

"Well then let's enjoy the time we've been given to relax," added Marcus, looking around at all the people mingling.

How could there be such an air of happiness when there was still fighting going on? Sure they had destroyed a Locust Hollow, but there could still be countless others out there. Marcus still had a gut feeling that the light mass bomb hadn't destroyed ALL of the locust in that stronghold. He tried to put it out of his mind and enjoy the feeling of triumph that they had accomplished.

After all, how many other people could go miles and miles to obtain specific targeting data, fight a Locust General and enter in the coordinates to a gigantic bomb, all the while fighting hundreds of locust along the way?

"Man I'm starving!" Cole let out, "let's go get some food. It's been too long since I've had a decent meal."

"I heard that!" Dom said, standing up, "Man I miss my mama's black olive chili, it was delicious!"

The four members of Delta Battalion went to the tables serving food.


2000 miles away and 300 feet under the surface of Sera, there was a stir of activity within the Locust Hollow the COG's had destroyed. A Theron Sentinel clawed his way out of the pile of rubble he was in. Shaken and disorientated, he fell forward to his knees after freeing himself. Cuts and bruises covered him from head to toe, and he was bleeding profusely from an injury to his shoulder. He placed a gnarled, huge hand over the wound, trying to stop the bleeding as best he could.

He looked around at the destruction that encircled him. Everything they had worked so hard to obtain was gone, left in ruins from the humans' massive bomb. He let out a terrible roar, enraged by the condition his home was in. The Hollow had been destroyed.

"Curse the ones who have done this," he hissed, his voice was sharp and cold.

He had the strength to stand and did so, taking in more of his surroundings. The Theron was very tall, his arms thick with muscle. His armor was broken and shattered in many places, but his helmet, having a small slit for him to see through, remained intact. He took a few small steps forward, hoping he might find some other survivors from the attack.

He gave off a loud growl that echoed through the cavern. He walked for several paces before he heard a gasping voice. He found the source of the noise, a grenadier who had been thrown against a wall by the blast. He recognized the locust as Bredahk, a good comrade of his.

"It's good to see a fellow brother and a familiar one at that, Ra'zuc," Bredahk's voice was low and harsh, much harder than a boomer's. He also had a large scar across his chest, a graze with almost being chain-sawed in half.

"I couldn't agree more, brother," Ra'zuc gave his friend an arm up, "It seems fate has other plans for us."

"I suppose it was only lucky that our squad was sent this far on a recon mission. If we had been a couple miles closer to the Stronghold we wouldn't be here," Bredahk looked around the cavern just as Ra'zuc had, "are there any other survivors?"

"Not that I have found, but we should continue to search," his arm had stopped bleeding now.

"I did not think the humans had such a weapon," Bredahk had a look of disbelief and anger on is face.

"Nor did I," Ra'zuc just stared ahead. No emotion could be read from his expression.

"What should we do?" asked Bredahk.

"Search for others, we need to build up a squad again."

The two locust set out for the pumping station nearby, hoping to find more survivors along the way.


Marcus was in his bunk, trying to fall asleep. It had been a long time since any of them had been able to sleep in a real bed. Dom was tossing and turning in his sleep while Cole was snoring loudly. Marcus just lay there quietly, trying to rest his mind enough so he could get some rest.

Col. Hoffman's announcement today about the deployment of the light mass bomb was of little interest to him now. He was more concerned about what would happen to them now, after they had accomplished their mission. Would they be shipped off to somewhere else, having to fight off the remaining Locust? Would the team have to be split up? What was going to happen now? All these questions and more kept circling in Marcus's head.

"I guess we'll find out tomorrow," he mumbled to himself, turning over on his side. He watched the small fan they had in their room move back and forth, drifting into sleep.


The two locust had not found any others still alive. They began to grow anxious, hoping that there was at least one other still living amongst the wreckage. They scaled the rocky steps up to a pumping station which had been completely demolished by the explosion.

There were dead corpses of locust lying about them and even a few corpsers lie dead in the imulsion.

"Who goes there?" A Locust Sniper had appeared in front of them. He had a few scrapes on him but apart from that he looked unharmed.

"Two of your brothers who have also survived the blast," Ra'zuc answered, "and who are you?"

"I am Notakxm, but I usually go by Tax," the Sniper was cold and agile looking. He wore his goggles around his neck and a fingerless glove on his right hand.

"Now we have three," Bredahk said smiling, showing is unruly choppers, "I'm Bredahk, and this is Ra'zuc."

Tax acknowledged both of them, then looked down at Bredahk's chest, "that's a pretty looking scar you got. How did you come by that?"

"By almost being sawed in half," his answer was quick and sharp.

"And how did you manage to stop that from happening?" the sniper asked, sounding impressed.

"A comrade blew the human's head off with a shotgun, that's how."

Tax nodded, seeming to have gotten whatever he wanted out of the questions he had asked. They all did not say or do anything for a while, just studying each other silently. Finally the tension was broken by Bredahk.

"So should we continue to the surface?"

"Yes, we need guns first though," Ra'zuc said, looking around at the other two.

"I know where there's an ammo cache on the surface. If we leave now we can be there before light," Tax pointed out to his left at a small path concealed in the rock.

"Very well," Ra'zuc glanced around and saw a hammerburst on the ground, "Pick up whatever guns you find; there may be some COG's protecting that cache."

They set out for the surface, hoping to make it there before the sun came up. Ra'zuc seemed to have taken lead at the moment. With General RAAM dead he was the only one capable of leading now.

A/N: Well there's the first chapter. There's not a whole lot of action going on yet because I needed to introduce the characters and the beginning, but please R&R, I'd like to know how I could make it better and maybe get a few ideas for later on in the story.