Birthday gift for Aivia. This fic takes place after the first Gears of War game, but before the second. Alexis belongs to Aivia, Isaac belongs to Gex1539, and Xander belongs to me.

That Sinking Feeling

"Control, this is Echo-3. Control, do you copy? Control!" Captain Xander Heckler sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"Seeders in the area?" asked Private Mavado.

"I don't think it's that," Xander said. "Not even our shortwave is working. Everything is just breaking down from wear and tear." Just to be sure the shortwave radios weren't working, he tried it out. "Isaac, do you hear me? Isaac?"

The city of Triana had once been a bustling metropolis, but after E-Day, it had just become another victim of the Locust's invasion and humanity's ill attempts at halting them. Years after that, it was a wonder that there were ruins even. One would have thought that it would just crumble into dust. But no, it still stood. It stood like a gaping wound that refused to heal on the heart of humanity.

"Hate to be a pessimist, captain, but we're fucked," Mavado said.

"Thanks, I hadn't noticed."

A Locust Seeder had shot down the copter after it was returning to Jacinto. Private Leon Mavado, Private Isaac Koch, and Captain Xander Heckler were the only survivors. After a long day of walking and camping out in the barren wastelands of what had once been a civilization, Isaac had scouted ahead at day break. Of course, when the captain had allowed that, their radios had been working.

"Pieces of shit," Xander muttered.

"This is kinda creepy, huh?"

"I just want to find Isaac and get out of here," Xander said.

"I mean, this had once been a city. This had once..." Mavado sighed. "I used to live here, did I ever tell you that?"

Xander kept walking, but did offer a, "No, you hadn't." No one really talked about a life before the war. Xander couldn't even remember what he had left behind and lost. Had he lost anything? Or was this life better than what he had had, if that was possible. Xander rubbed his eyes.

"I used to live here with my mom. She used to always complain that I wouldn't make something of my life." Mavado chuckled. "Well, look at me now. I'm a bad ass Locust killer. Fuck you mom..."

The two continued forward, until coming under a bridge that seemed relatively stable. Xander was careful as to check the foundation: it wouldn't serve well for the bridge to collapse after years of precarious balance just as he settled beneath it. It seemed strong enough, and the shade was a welcome change from the blistering sun of the afternoon. As he walked forward, something hit him in the face. Xander's eyes slowly adjusted, and he found himself facing what seemed to be a noose. He looked back at Mavado questionably, but the most he got was a confused shrug.

"Maybe a trap?" Mavado asked. "Are Locust using traps now? Don't pull on it, captain. It might bring the bridge down on our head."

"The bridge isn't going to crumble. It's firm and solid or I wouldn't be under here in the first place. Look." With that, Xander held the noose with both hands, and actually lifted himself off the ground. "This isn't a trap. It's…a hangman's noose. A real one."

Xander had his trusty Lancer and the big fat revolver that Locust loved so much. Mavado had his Longshot and a snub pistol, not to mention a combat knife in his left boot. They were two men, possibly three if Isaac was still alive, but at the moment two. When Xander heard that familiar, "MAUL" that one of the big Locust loved to call, he gave the gesture to find cover. Mavado and Xander moved back the way they had come, the former taking cover behind a large pile of debris that had fallen from a nearby building, and the latter finding safety behind an old car. They each listened to the heavy stomping of the Mauler, and the throaty rash growls of Drones, occasionally either would peek out to see the approaching unit of soldiers. Once, Mavado had peeked out and lined his scope, but a hiss and gesture from Xander told him to keep cover. There were six Drones, a Grenadier, a Flame Grenadier and a Theron Guard, but it was the Mauler that would be the real threat. Xander didn't want to risk it.

Then he saw what they were doing. They had four or five humans in tow, Stranded by the look of their tattered clothing and weak forms. Each was chained to the one before and after them, and the one at the front was chained to the Mauler's belt.

On his belly, Mavado crawled towards Xander before the Locust would be close enough to notice. "Hostages!" he hissed. "What the fuck are they doing with hostages? Since when do Locust take hostages?"

"I don't know," Xander said, gritting his teeth.

"We have to save them."

"We'll get one shot out before the big one's shield is up, and we're not that far away from it. And that's not even taking into account the little ones."

"I can shoot the one with the flamethrower."

"And then what? We have to wait. See what they do. Maybe we can ambush them sometime later. When they lay down to rest for the night."

The Theron guard gave a hiss and wave of his hand. The Drones unshackled the humans, but pushed them towards the nooses. Xander peeked out of his cover to watch what was happening. "Oh fuck," he muttered.

Two of the Drones brought over a very large, very long crate, and the humans were forced to stand on it. "What are they doing?" Mavado asked.

The Drones fastened the nooses around the humans' throats. "They're going to take bets on who lasts the longest," Xander muttered, as the crate was dragged out from under the humans' feet slowly.

"Captain, we have to do something."

Xander gritted his teeth. "We can't. For all we know this is a lure to get us out. They might have known we were coming."

"Captain, I can kill the Flamer and cause confusion. We can take them."

"We can't...Damn it, they'll slaughter us. It's over four to one odds, and we don't even have that good of cover." Xander's hand moved to his ear. "Isaac? Damn it Isaac, answer. Where are you? We need backup."

The answer seemed to come in the form of a smoke grenade thrown from behind cover to the Locust's left. Xander caught a glimpse of Isaac rising from the cover, and firing off his shotgun. Xander cursed under his breath. "Mavado, try and take out the Theron," he said, hopping over the cover and running towards the confusion. With all his might, he tackled one of the Drones, who was focusing on Isaac, and drove the brute to the ground. Xander pushed up, getting to his feet and dropping a heavy boot onto the Drone's chest. Revving the chainsaw of his Lancer, Xander pushed down, cutting the Drone from the right shoulder to the left ribs.

To his side, Isaac pushed forward, peppering the Drones with shotgun blasts. The burly Grenadier charged forward, shrugging off the pellets and taking hold of the shotgun. Isaac lifted the shotgun high, and brought a knee into the Grenadier's side. Twisting, he knocked the Grenadier off balance, and dropped a knee onto the center of its chest, knocking the wind out of it. Drawing his pistol, he pushed it into the Grenadier's roaring mouth, and squeezed.

The Theron had retreated behind cover to avoid the biting shots of Mavado's rifle. Isaac had shot another of the Drones, and was moving in on the Theron. Xander noticed that the Mauler was approaching Mavado, who was doing what he could to keep it at bay. Xander revved his chainsaw and ran towards the Shield Mauler, hoping to rip into it while its back was turned, when one of the Drones tackled Xander around the legs. Xander fell onto his chest, the Drone holding tight to his kicking legs, but trying to crawl up him. Xander kicked and thrashed, trying to aim behind him to kill the Drone, but the Drone stayed low and held on tight, and Xander was not able to roll onto his back to aim properly. Relinquishing his Lancer in favor of his more manageable revolver, he aimed back. But the Grenadier caught his revolver by the barrel and yanked it out of Xander's hand. Lifting the heavy piece of metal above his head, the Grenadier swung down, smashing Xander across the back.

Xander felt lightning run through him, followed by a painful paralysis. The Drone reached forward, taking Xander around the throat in a choke hold and squeezing his neck. Xander tensed his throat, and jabbed his elbow into the Drone's side, but the Drone's grip stayed strong. Reaching out and finding a piece of rubble on the ground, Xander swung back, hitting the Drone in the head.

Given a moment's relief, Xander rolled onto his back, only to be mounted by the Drone, who put his hands down on Xander's throat to choke the life out of him. Xander pushed his hands forward to push the Drone away, and when that failed, pushed his thumbs into the Drone's eyes. He felt slight resistance, and then the squishy orbs pop, but the Drone only squeezed his throat harder.

Xander saw a leg kick forward, the toe catching the Drone in the ribs. Then a heel hit the Drone hard in the side of the head, and it was knocked off. Xander rolled onto his side, wrapping his fingers around his lost revolver and rolled back onto his side. He swung down, smashing the barrel of the revolver against the Drone's thick skull, actually bending the barrel to the side. Xander took the snub pistol the Drone had on its belt and pushed the muzzle into its chest, squeezing off three shots. Lifting to one knee, he aimed at the Mauler, who had swung his maul down and knocked Mavado back. Xander squeezed off the rest of the magazine, distracting the Mauler long enough for Mavado to put a fat slug between its eyes. Behind him, Isaac had gained the upper hand in his brief grapple with the Theron. He jammed his blade into the Theron's stomach, and pulled it to the side, ripping his innards and organs apart and letting them spill to the floor, before stabbing the blade through the mask. At some point, someone had shot the Flame Grenadier in the tank, and it was spilling out fumes. A moment later, it had exploded.

Xander groaned. "Mavado," he shouted. "Grab a rifle. Cover us. Isaac, you help me cut the humans down." Xander turned to his savior, the person who had kicked the Drone off him. She was a short, slender woman, a Stranded he would guess. She was dressed in whatever clothing she could find, and carried a Gorgon pistol in her hands. One she had used to kill a few of the Drones in this very skirmish. "Come help."

"I'm already on it," the woman said. Isaac, big and strong as he was, actually lifted the human who had ceased moving, to relieve the pressure on her neck. Xander and the woman took the large crate and half pushed, half carried it towards the choking civilians. They placed it down on the ground, and aided them in finding it with trembling feet. Isaac, a CQB specialist, carried several knives on him, and handed Xander one without being asked. The woman caught those they cut down and eased them onto the ground, afraid they might fall and crack their head on the ground.

"Are they alright?" Xander asked.

The woman was checking them over, but at least one, she had closed their eyes and left the body where it lay: the one that Isaac had tried to save by holding her up. She was a young woman, and thin as a rail. She was thinner than even a Stranded should be.

"Xander," Isaac said. "I'm sorry for not contacting you. When I was on recon, I noticed a Locust camp. I was going to turn back when I saw that they had these hostages. I was following them, hoping to ambush them when I had the chance and free the hostages, then I could come back to you. My radio crapped out, so I couldn't update you. I'm sorry."

"You did the right thing," the captain said quickly. "I wouldn't have ordered you any less. Ammo check," he called out, and he walked over to the Drone he had killed to take whatever ammo that one carried. Since his revolver was broken, he would just use the Snub pistol for the time being. "Wounded?" Xander asked.

Isaac shrugged, signifying that he hadn't been hurt. But Mavado seemed to have hurt his leg when the maul came down, and he had jumped out of the way.

Approaching the woman, who had finished her duty, he said, "Thank you. I'm Captain Heckler. That's Private Koch. And that's Private Mavado."

"Alexis," the woman said. She pulled her long hair back, wiping her forehead of sweat.

"What are you doing out here, Alexis?"

"What you COGs don't want to do anymore. Killing Locust."

Xander sighed. "We're on our way back to Jacinto. It's not too far from here. You can join us. I'll tell them how you helped us in this fight."

"No, I have business to do still. Have to kill the local warlord."

"I'm sorry ma'am?"

"Since you pigs dropped the bomb, the Locust seem to be at a loss for leadership. They seem...I don't know, cut off maybe, from the central bug. Some of the big shots, the Theron, Kantus, a couple strangely ambitious Maulers, have organized the wandering Locust, and begun to carve out spheres of influence. I've been hunting the local one for a while now. This execution, it was to lure me out. They've...they've been doing it for a week now. And each time...I just had to watch. But once you guys came along, I had a better chance."

"A week? Jesus, where do they keep getting the Stranded?"

"There's a big Locust camp near here. I've been watching it for weeks now, waiting for a chance to kill the warlord. I almost got close a week ago, but I failed. And he's been killing...he's been doing this every day, at this time of the day, every day. Thank you for your help, soldiers. But I have to strike now, before they realize that these troops aren't coming back."

Xander looked to the Stranded. He sighed. "Mavado, Isaac, keep heading to Jacinto. Maybe you can meet up with a recon team or something. Get them," he said, referring to the Stranded, "behind the walls, though. I'll take any heat for it when I get back."

"Where are you going?" Mavado asked.

"Alexis and I are going to go kill a warlord."

Alexis looked to him, as did Isaac. "Soldier, you don't have to come," she said.

"We kill Locust, that's what we do, ma'am."

"That's right," Isaac said. "That's what we do. It's kind of like a job."

Xander looked over his shoulder at Mavado. Mavado sighed, and looked down to his leg. He wasn't hurt bad, but it would slow the team down, and they would have to move fast. And someone would have to take care of the Stranded. He hobbled over to Xander, offering the spare ammunition for a Snub pistol. Xander gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder, before turning and walking to Alexis and Isaac. "We have a plan?"

XXX

Isaac was chosen because he had the largest build. Although Xander and he were the same height, Isaac's slightly broader shoulders and thicker body because of frequent CQB meant he could more easily fit into the dead Theron's armor. It was far from a comfortable fit, and if a Locust drew close enough he would notice for sure. But hopefully it would let them get at least close to the camp. Xander and Alexis allowed their hands to be bound in front of them, though upon close inspection one would see that the two cuffs were not actually attached. The chain had been broken.

Alexis lead the way, mostly because she was the only one that knew the directions to the camp. Xander followed after her, and Isaac followed behind them, occasionally giving Xander a push with his shotgun's butt to keep up appearances.

The "big Locust camp" was not large at all. It was barely a camp even. If Xander had to guess, he would say it was a Stranded settlement that a Theron and his personal guards had taken over. From what Alexis had said, there should be around ten Locust left: the Theron, a Grinder, and eight or so Drones. The Stranded had before been kept inside one of the buildings and taken out for slave labor, but since Alexis' attempted assassination, they had been moved to one big cage in the center of the town. Again, it was an attempt to goad the assassin into the open where she could be dealt with easily. Xander regretted not having Mavado, he would have helped a great deal. They might have even been able to pick off all the Locust and then just go in and save however many Stranded were left.

Xander and Alexis both kept their head down as they walked. Isaac, in the Theron armor, walked in that usual tall walk that Locust had. There were no tall walls around the settlement, no guard towers. It was clear how Alexis had managed to infiltrate it the first time. At most, there were a few ravels of razor wire around it. Stranded usually used razor wire to keep Wretches at bay, but anything else could easily climb through.

"Isaac," Xander whispered. "When you see the Grinder, get close and gut him. He's the biggest threat. Alexis, you can take out the Theron. I'll keep the Drones busy."

Each held their breath as they came through the openings in the wire and into the settlement. A couple of the Drones were wandering around, maybe on patrol. Some took notice of the humans, seemingly captured by one of their Therons, and approached out of interest. Isaac hissed as deep and strong as he could, which seemed to work in sending the Drones away.

"Got sight on the Grinder," Isaac said. "Take your rifle." Isaac was carrying his shotgun in hand, but Xander's Lancer was on his back, as if a war trophy from a battle that had been fought. Isaac quickened his pace and walked past Xander and Alexis, approaching the Grinder who just stood there dumbly, surveying the area and waiting for something to fight. Having heard from the Drones that the audacious human had been captured, the Theron emerged from one of the houses and approached. Alexis gently reached under his shirt, inching towards the Gorgon pistol she had hidden.

It was Xander's move first. He reached forward and yanked the Lancer off Isaac's back. Shifting his grip properly, turning to a large collection of the Drones, lowering to his belly, and lining his sights, he let loose a flurry of bullets at the Drones. The Grinder, sensing the fight, turned towards the source, lifting his weapon and roaring out his "Grind" cry. Isaac ducked into a run, and took one of the knives from his belt. He threw the knife, hitting the Grinder in the small holes where his eyes were, and earning a loud roar from the brute. The Grinder squeezed the trigger, firing blindly, as Isaac continued running. When close enough, he took out the combat knife from his chest sheath, and jammed it into the Grinder's belly, before ducking and rolling to his side to avoid a crushing swing from the Grinder.

Alexis was running towards the Theron, as the Theron lifted his bow. The tip of the arrow started to glow, and Alexis quickly ducked to her side to avoid the explosive shot. But the shot hit the ground behind her, and exploded. The force sent her forward. Rolling onto her back, she quickly took aim, viewing the sights of her Gorgon upside down, and squeezed off a quick burst. She succeeded in hitting the Theron in the chest. He growled, lifting his arms in front of his chest as another burst came forward.

Isaac caught one of the Grinder's clumsy swings under his arm. He was knocked away slightly, but managed to keep his grip on the Grinder's arm firm and solid. Despite the Grinder's girth compared to Isaac's own, a throw was not always about superior weight. Isaac twisted, putting his back into the Grinder's arm and extending his leg. Using his hip as a proper pivot point, he continued twisting, and almost succeeded in tripping the Grinder to the ground. Whether by thought or instinct however, the Grinder managed to adjust his footing, and using his superior strength, kept upright.

Still holding the Grinder's arm, Isaac watched it attempt to swat Isaac away with its free hand, dropping the minigun to better swing. Isaac did ponder if he could absorb the blow from the Grinder, but the risk seemed too high. He let go of the Grinder's arm and ducked beneath the sloppy swing. Taking hold of the swinging arm, Isaac again attempted to knock the Grinder off balance. This time, he pulled the Grinder, and yanked it, and dug his boots into the ground to pull and yank more. Holding onto the Grinder's wrist with one hand, his other hand pulled the knife out of the Grinder's chest and instead stabbed it the back of the Grinder's leg. The Grinder roared suddenly. Isaac, using both hands, attempted the hip throw again, and this time managed to put the Grinder on its back. Taking up the shotgun he had relinquished to grapple, Isaac put the muzzle to the Grinder's face and squeezed the trigger.

The Theron had managed to close the distance against Alexis. Only a quick roll over the ground spared her from being crushed beneath his foot. She twisted onto her belly, and then rose to all fours. The Theron attempted to kick her, but Alexis braced herself, only falling back slightly. She lifted the pistol, and fired another burst into the Theron, this time hitting him in the weaker armor of his gut. She got to her feet, and backed away, reloading her Gorgon pistol as the Theron stomped after her. She continued peppering him with shots, but the Gorgon's penetration was not enough for his heavy armor.

Isaac hoisted the Grinder's minigun from the corpse and set it down. Taking careful aim, so not to hit Alexis, he squeezed off a heavy burst, ripping into the Theron from the side. Turning his aim, he noticed Xander struggling to gain the upper hand against a Locust Cyclops. Their bayonets were locked, and sparks flew and spread around them. Isaac did not want to risk opening fire with the minigun, lest he hit Xander. He did however notice some of the Drones approaching Xander from his blind side. Turning his aim to them, Isaac opened fire, ripping into the Drones. Putting his foot behind him, Xander was able to suddenly push forward, overpowering the Cyclops briefly, the chainsaw sinking into its shoulder. Xander continued pressing, using his weight now to aid the shredding teeth in ripping through the Drone's center and to the hip, finally cutting the monster into two pieces.

Xander groaned, getting back to his feet and looking for additional Locust. Alexis removed the Theron's ballistic mask and shot him several times in the head. She checked him for any ammunition, but found nothing for her Gorgon. She did however find the key for the cage in the center of the settlement. With the Locust dead, she returned her Gorgon to the holster on her belt. She walked towards Isaac and Xander, head low. "Thank you," she said softly. "I'm not sure I could have survived this without you."

She hurried to the cage in the center of the town, and freed the prisoners. They stumbled out of the cage, stretching their legs. Some walked over and kicked their now dead captors, or took up the weapons and prepared for any additional attacks from the Locust.

Xander looked to Alexis. "You're going to stay out here?"

"Someone's got to kill the Locust. You fascists won't get out of your walls to."

Xander took the radio out of his ear, and handed it to Alexis. "I'm sorry, I'm not sure if this one still works. But if it does, or you can get it working, keep in touch with me. If you ever need anything, let me know. I'll get a COG team out for you."

Alexis took the radio, smiling slightly. "Thank you," she said. "I'll keep in touch."

Xander reloaded his Lancer, before setting it on his back. Isaac did the same with his shotgun, before retrieving the knives he had left in the Grinder's corpse. He cleaned them on a spot of cloth in the Grinder's armor, before returning them to his sheath. He and Xander then headed out of the settlement, and towards Jacinto. Isaac gave Xander a soft shove. "Next time, you wear the Locust armor. This fucking stinks."

Xander chuckled, and nodded. He sighed though. "Long walk back. Seems like we've been walking for days now. I wish Betty were here."

Isaac shook his head. "You're a sick man, corporal."

"I'm a captain now," Xander said proudly.

Isaac laughed softly. "Of course, I keep forgetting. You're a sick man, captain."

To which Xander softly agreed.