A/N

If you're a fan of Ghosts (or I suppose Call of Duty as a whole), this will probably twist you the wrong way. Still, it's a case of cause and effect, where Cliff Bleszinski casually mentioned that the original Gears of War had a dog in it before being cut, joking that it had joined Call of Duty. That...just says it all doesn't it? It's already known that Gears of War was turned away from his original conception (including making it a franchise), and on the other end of the triple-A spectrum, we have developers showcasing another dog as the cutting end of innovation along with fish AI that already existed back in Super Mario 64. Anyway, typed out this as a result.

Loyalty

Believe it or not, I don't like tearing people's throats out.

Y'know, I wouldn't mind so much if my owners told me why they want me to tear people's throats out. I don't know what the guys in red ever did to them, dressed and equipped with gear that suggests the presence of radiation or something (should I be worried?). Part of me wonders if the guys I'm with even know themselves. But no, I'm told to sick 'em. So I do, downing one, and letting one of my handlers shoot the other guy in the back. Because…um…er…

Well, no time for that. Time to move on. Who knows, maybe these guys will do an underwater mission, taking out a ship from below for reasons I have no idea beyond "they're the enemy." Or something. Anyway, moving on…nice scenery…reminds me of Sera a bit.

Oh yeah, did I ever mention I'm not from this world? Yeah, the guys don't know it, they just thought I was a stray, trained me without realizing I'd already been trained, and did some PR about how the Ghosts had a new companion (guys, seriously, I'm just a dog.). Well, anyway, I used to work with the Gears, working out as a sniffer dog in the ruins of Sera's cities. Finding and helping people rather than killing them. Of course, that didn't last long – Stranded don't always want help, and as the years drew on, all of Sera's remaining population had basically been divided between those who wanted to stay with the COG, and those who didn't, the latter group being perfectly willing to eat dog meat. Oh, and the Locust. Nasty brutes whose throats I couldn't tear out, so before long, I was replaced by a JACKbot. I decided to jump between universes at that point. Long story. I'd tell you but we've come to a stop again.

Yes, it's another pit-stop with an overload of linguo I don't understand or care about. There's more people in red, talking foreign, ergo, they're the enemy. And…ugh…here we go. One of the Ghosts has got me going forward, doing his dirty work, stalking one of the guys in red and taking him down. Humans killing other humans. At least with the Locust it was a clear kill or be killed situation. At least with the Locust I understood their intentions. But these guys just seem to be minding their own business. How do I even know I'm on the right side? How…no, sorry, I've got to bark because one of the Ghosts wants a headshot. Or something. Least this guy is an actual soldier who's being killed, as is the guy on the balcony of the house above.

Come to think of it, what's the other Ghost done besides control me? I haven't seen him fire his weapon or anything, he's just played puppet-master. Directing me to commit murder on his behalf as I clear the house, tearing out the throats of more human beings who've never even tried to attack these guys. And…yep, here I go. Dive through a window (never mind all the glass jackasses…fur isn't body armour), get the soldiers to come running out, so my handlers can shoot them in the back. Which is what they've done for the past five minutes. For reasons I have no idea as to why.

"Good boy Riley," one of them says. He turns to the other. "Okay, mask on."

Masks? Are they terrorists? What do they need masks for? I…ugh, screw it. Let's move on.

Y'know, I almost miss Sera. True, I couldn't have done much good against the Locust, but at least I had some fun watching the combat. At least I wasn't scripted along from one set piece to the other. At least I could watch the Gears choose their own tactics rather than having them arbitrarily dictated. And at least with the Locust, I knew they were the enemy. And I knew they were the enemy because they acted and looked like dicks, and they were aggressive, and they were harder to kill than shooting people in the back, and I didn't need vague assurances from the Gears around me that the Locust were the enemy because I could see that with my own eyes. But no, I guess it's just time to move onto the next set piece.

Sigh…maybe I can go after some fish. They've got the brains to move out of the way when I get close or something.