AN:

Hi reader, if you are here to read this two-chapter story THANKS SO MUCH, this is a VERY Remote category and I appreciate every one of you curious enough to click on this!

Why did I write this? Well this is a great big PLOT BUNNY in my head, and I just wanted to get it out as soon as I can. I actually got this idea squirming around when I was on Zerochan, and came across a Gears of War image with Miku in it! (Front cover of this ONE SHOT). Now, I am normally a challenge-setter and reviewer, and this is one of the few times I am writing a full story, even if a one shot. So I accept any constructive reviews/criticisms!

Since Sera (GOW's Earth) does not show a Japan-like country, I will just assume it is called Japan

By the way, it has been a LONG time since I played Part 1, so I am not entirely sure whether JACK was with Delta team after the China Shop chapter of Act 1 I also assume it is.

Some characters may be OOC, possibly more so Baird than anyone else.

Flames are ignored

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN GEARS OF WAR NOR DO I OWN HATSUNE MIKU AND/OR VOCALOID!

"Humans talking"

"Machine talking"

ACT 1: Ashes

Sentience: Part 1

After leaving the tomb, the new Delta team was heading off deeper into Ephyra, just hoping to finding some vehicle or Stranded outpost with a vehicle. Why? Because they have to get to some Emulsion factory in the middle of nowhere, and detonate the sonic resonator in the locust home turf, oh joy!

They were still passing through a large number monuments and stonework, most of them would be majestic if it wasn't for E-Day, the Locusts hit every place HARD, it is really a miracle most of the buildings are still standing.

Just moments ago, Baird saw the now reinstated "Sergeant Fenix" face off against a berserker, and suffice to say it would have to be one of the most memorable, albeit shittiest experiences for their new charming and heroic Sergeant. By the way, the Berserker pretty much build the whole meaning of "troublesome woman" to Epic proportions! Seriously, the berserker had skin as hard as rocks, mince and mash anyone she touches...so the only way to kill her was the Hammer of Dawn. But there was just one simple problem; you need a direct satellite transmission so it was not that bad...well would not be bad if they were outdoors, not being trap in a damn tomb of all places! Now that is certainly a masterfully woven experience one might mistake their situation as being fully scripted. But of course this is just ridiculous, having fate being dictated by some greater being or some script-writer with a little too much to do?

Ending his inner monologue (and rant) Baird put in a gracious and thoughtful (in his opinion) attempt to lighten up the crappy mood by getting a friendly conversation up and running "Hey Marcus, how was your date with little big missy with...?"

"Keep your comments to yourself Baird!" snapped their Sergeant, yes friendly conversation indeed...

"Uhhh...that was actually some quick thinking Marcus, leading the berserker out into the open" Dom decided to contribute to the mood lightening a little more.

"Yeah, a bit of sweet-talk and a nudge, you can make her bust through a wall for you, literally! Sarge' you should be proud you still have that 'sway' on women." Baird tactfully commented.

Cole then decided to add to this constructive discussion, "oh, well who was that little boy who sounded like he was just about to shit himself back in that depressing-ass hole?'She can hear us...she can smell us' oh, I believed that was what he said."

"Haha, very funny Cole! Well that shows I have standards when I choose women."

Marcus was NOT in a good mood if you can take in his deepening grimace, with the shitty suicide job Hoffman gave them and with NO SUPPORT to boot, it is hard to blame anyone if they are not feeling like exchanging small-talk. "Could you all just SHUT UP?! Let's just keep moving, the sun is setting soon, we only have a few hours left!" Marcus snapped, and that ended the conversation.

Roughly One Hour Later

Despite all the overly-dramatic architecture, it is universally understood that Ephyra was not the most interesting city to be. Over the hour, Marcus became more conciliatory after walking off all those steam and so no one found it psychologically healthy to keep quiet any longer, all it takes is for something to start up a conversation.

That was when something caught Dom's eye and broke the silence "*Whistle* now that is some decent scenery for a change" the rest of Delta squad turned to the focus of Dom's attention...a statue.

Well not just any statue, it was a statue of a girl, a hot one at that; it was most likely a life-sized statue and if that is the case the girl was short, compared to them that is. She had a cute face and big eyes with some long bangs covering both sides of her face, slim built, but in a healthy way, and all of them noted that she was wearing an unusual school uniform with a very short skirt, obviously showing off her very slender and shapely legs, Delta squad absently noted that she had C-cup breasts. But the most striking characteristic of the statue is the ridiculously long twin pigtails that made up her hair. Marcus, Dom and Cole had no idea who the statue was, but given that it is the first distinctively feminine representation of a person they have seen for hours (for some... weeks *cough* Baird *cough*) it is not entirely unreasonable that they were ogling the statue longer than absolutely necessary.

"Miku Hatsune, looking as stunning as ever", Baird responded, though without the ever-present sarcastic tone. The other members of Delta Squad twisted their head to Baird so fast; one would expect their necks would crack. Here is the reason for their shock, it was not the fact that Baird knew who the statue was, but the rather he actually made a SINCERE compliment.

"Who's the pretty pony-tail lady again Baird?" Cole asked

"It's 'twin-tails' Cole, get it right" Baird snapped back.

"And no offence... but you sounded honest rather than sarcastic" Dom added.

Baird scoffed and conveniently overlooked the lack of sarcasm in his previous comment "of course you have no idea who she is... all you have to know is she is not a real person, but was rather a computer program used for the synthesising of Audio.. " getting blank looks from everyone, Baird decided to continue "it's just something that has to do with computers, she is a program...much like what is running JACK and this program became SO popular that people decide to name it a HER give her a physical appearance. She is VERY popular amongst the engineers and technicians, I think even Anya know who Miku is."

There was a ten second silence after that, Dom thought of what Baird said to Cole about an hour ago on "standards". He smirked and slyly voiced his thought, "So, what you said about an hour ago about having "better standards" when choosing women, is this what you mean?". Baird was sputtering, having no wise-ass remark to the question. Dom then continues "well normally I would say that is just sad, but since someone was actually nice enough to make a statue of her, I gotta to agree with you." Marcus shrugged in agreement, Cole agreed in a more vocal way "Hell yeah! Y'all imaginary girlfriend is HOT, why don't we get a picture of her for ya Baird? Hell a pretty girl always appreciates attention and a photo shoot, unlike that ugly-ass bitch." The whole Delta team shuddered when they thought about who the "ugly-ass bitch" was.

All attention was turned to Marcus; Delta team's new leader gave the matter some thought. This was a waste of time, and they should keep moving, but he is not keen on acting like Hoffman or Prescott anytime soon so he made his decision "Ah what the heck, JACK take a picture of the statue.", in a matter of seconds, Delta Team's unofficial fifth teammate de-cloaked and captured an image of the statue in a brief flash, after all it was just a picture, what was the worst that could happen?

"Aww geez, you're all the best, really appreciate it!" Baird was uncharacteristically smiling cheerfully, the rest of the team were unsure if he was being sarcastic or not...odd.

"Okay Delta, we spent too much time here, let's move on" Marcus ordered, Delta team continued on, everyone's mood mysteriously improved dramatically after seeing Miku's statue and there was a distinctive spring in Baird's steps. Maybe if the war is over, they could have an excuse to visit Ephyra again if some political bullshit were to happen in the future or if for some reason they were involved in ANOTHER court-martial. None of them noticed that their robot teammate paused for a few seconds longer than normal before re-cloaking and following on.

AN: There you have it, the first chapter, thanks everyone for reading! Leave a review if you can and see you in the second chapter!

Druid