Chapter 1

"Lightmass bomb…," Sergeant Marcus Fenix cursed under his breath after receiving the mission abridgment from Colonel Hoffman, the bastard. Hoffman had quickly shown his disdain towards Marcus, inducing as to exactly why Marcus had been placed in the Jacinto Maximum Security Penitentiary all those years ago. If it was one thing that the colonel loathed, it was AWOL's, even if the purpose had been one of integrity. "You need to find that resonator Fenix, I expect 110 from you,-" "I'm not doing this for you," Fenix growled, clearly agitated, his adrenaline pumping from the short but sweet fire fight that had occurred moments earlier. He chuckled. Not even a minute into his re-enlistment' and already he had gotten his first kill. It felt all too satisfying.

"Where's Alpha located?" Marcus asked Lieutenant Kim, an older, more educated soldier than himself. Kim, averting his attention from what was at hand, stared down Marcus as if he was but a child posing a question to their teacher; Marcus couldn't help but sneer with revulsion, wishing that he would have been given the respect he had earned when life had decided to be kind. "The last we heard of Alpha, they were backed up at Embry Square, but there last call was over two hours ago." Kim told Marcus, as he slung an automatic rifle over his shoulder.

Marcus sighed, and did the same, following the team as they strode into what could be there their imminent deaths.

"Dios mio, no me dejas murir, porfavor, no me terminas la vida tan pronto," Victoria whispered to herself in the Spanish dialect she was brought to this world speaking. Her long deceased ancestors had all come from Cuba, but, being that it had become extinct so many years ago, her closest relatives, including her mother, had been born in what they called Cuba 2, right in her home planet Sera. She was first generation born Serian, and her father, had been Serian also, a General in the Coalition of Ordered Governments, however, Victoria closed her eyes firmly, the attempt to dismiss her parents death was one of difficult standings, one that was almost physically painful to acknowledge as true.

On Emergence day, no lives had been spared. No reasons had been given. Men woman and children had died all alike. The Locust Horde had risen from their home deep in the core of the earth, and penetrated the granite barrier of Jacinto Plateau. The hardest fact to cope with was that, no one truly understood what the Locust was, nor did they understand their intention of killing off the human inhabitants of Sera's populace. Yet, what bothered Victoria the most was why she had been spared. What could possibly make her so special, that upon a day where all life had ceased, her life had remained staunchly in the rosters high in heaven?

She wasn't at all aware of where she was, the architecture being pre-enlightenment, Gothic even; the towering buildings looked as if they were from Greece or Rome, clearly aged with time and years of brutal war. The fighting had surely taken its toll on the buildings, and she frowned, wondering how beautiful Jacinto Plateau had been before the Imulsion Wars. Victoria shook her head. All had been fine, until the discovery of Imulsion, a fresh fuel source, that soon thereafter, would be converted into cheap energy, regulating the fuel problems of Sera non-existent. However, as the source found itself quickly depleting, Sera was also thrown into what was obscurely dubbed, the Pendulum Wars.

During the seventy-nine year war, the Coalition of Ordered Governments, or COG, became a legitimate minor political party. Founded long before the Pendulum Wars by fanatical socialist Alexiy Desipich, the party was based on world-government philosophy and a reform of eight guiding principle values: Order, Diligence, Purity, Labor, Honor, Loyalty, Faith, and Humility.

Victoria now smiled. Her father had been one of those brave men, one of those who had attempted to pull together forces to save Sear, but by the time all had been settled, the Locust Horde had butchered more than a quarter of the population. It had been far too late.

Marcus bracketed himself decisively upon the ground as he glanced around the corner of a destroyed wall, hoping that one of those sons a' es weren't on the other side. Marcus could have then named every possible explanation for there not being any visible enemy, discerning that in no way, did all this tranquility imply a safe mission here till the finish line.

"Hey, do you guys here that?" Marcus asked, perceiving what sounded like a drill tearing through a steel plate. Just then, it caught his eye and conceded his mind. The battle had just begun…

How in the hell are we going to get out of this one? Marcus mentioned to himself, trying to devise some sort of plan, that's when there Intelligence source, Anya, commed in. "Marcus, you need to lure the Berserker outside so I can put our satellites online, then you will be able to use the Hammer of Dawn on her,"
It wasn't that terrible, the first few hours, but it had been almost a day now, her hands tied unceremoniously to a metal pole, Locust walking back and fourth before her, in fact, she wasn't even frightened, it was just like an appalling nightmare, no matter how unpleasant it all appeared, it couldn't harm what wasnt tangible.

Maybe she would simply rot away in this place, wherever she was, and soldiers would find her body far dead and decayed. Perhaps they wouldn't even be able to identify her, and she would go straight to the cemetery, thrown in with everyone else including her parents, never to receive a proper funeral, just as the millions of men, woman and children that had also been victims of these dire creatures.

Lord, as much as the death of Victoria's parents distressed her, she still wanted to live. She wanted to see what would become of this world, after all, she was only a young sixteen years of age, and there were so many things that she wanted to do, to see, to experience. "Dios, why was I spared? Is it because I am a virgin? Is that it? Oh God, maybe I should have been a whore so I could of died"
Abruptly so, a crash of thunder and lightening illuminated the sky, and she jumped, startled. "Thank you for answering me that time,"

Victoria knelt down, and a thought invaded her mentality…was she going to die a virgin? Her belief in God, and her morals had always been very strong, therefore, sex had never been an option, until she were to be married of course, but now, her faith felt as if it were slipping from her frail fingers, and the fact that she might cease without ever having experienced the joys of physical intimacy with a man she would love, terrified Victoria to the farthest extent.

She allowed a tear to fall down her cheek, but she solidified her expression, not wanting to cry, not wanting to feel weak any longer. She stood, rather constrained because of her tied wrists, and squared her shoulders, lifting her chin. She had always learnt that the best way to evolve your mood, in matter of seconds, was to fix your posture. To sit tall was to feel tall, but as she straightened, Victoria began to distinguish the sights and resonance of undying combat.

Lieutenant Kim, Private Augustas Cole, and Private Damon Baird took the left side of the building, leaving to point out the coordinates to Anya so that she could set up the satellites, and of course, the dirty work had been left to Marcus Fenix, and a childhood friend and fellow soldier, Dominick Santiago. Marcus felt terrible for the guy; Dom had lost his own wife on Emergence Day, and the only person that Marcus had lost had been his father. He prayed though, that Adam Fenix was simply missing amongst all this conflict.

Marcus rounded a corner and his eyes met a prospect out of this world. He had heard of the Berserkers, but now that he was staring one down, he could truly see the power of this creature. "Fenix, there's something you gotta' know; Berserkers rely on navigation from their keen sense of smell, they are totally blind, so you need to find a way to get that thing to follow you outside, " "Oh, that's great to hear Lieutenant, when should I sign my will?"

"Dom, I got a plan, just follow my lead," Marcus said, preparing himself mentally for the feat he would attempt to accomplish. If the Berserker wasn't blind, he would be afraid of Marcus as well. The soldier stood tall at six feet one, with a solid weight of two hundred and thirty one pounds. His muscle was thick and tone, hard and powerful. He had always been a very powerful man, since his youth, exemplifying strength far beyond that of his peers. Yet, even at his large size, it was nothing compared to the Berserker, which was at least three feet taller, and a whole lot more powerful than himself.

Marcus couldn't help but realize the creature looked more demon than insect, and as he stood before it, about 50 meters away from its position in the hall, it seemed to snap its head in his direction, and with a howling screech, it began to charge at him with blinding speed.

Marcus had never reacted so quickly on his life, jumping out of its way just in time, virtually evading his death. It crashed into the nearest pillar, pulverizing it to a pile of rubble. As Marcus ran for a door that led into the next hallway, he grabbed the handle, only to realize it was locked, and jammed tight. "Ah, you've got to be kidding me," John groaned, when at that second an idea flooded his mind. It was so simple, yet so risky, but, it was the only way…

Marcus braced himself before the carved wooden door and watched as the Berserker sniffed the air, almost like a wandering dog, and, as it found its trail, it screeched again proudly, hurdling with no hesitation at Marcus. Just as the creature reached him, he bounded from its path, leaving the Berserker to ram itself through the solid wooden door, demolishing it as if it were merely a sand castle. Marcus looked through the freshly demolished door from a safe distance and cursed under his breath. It was more than obvious that they were going to have to repeat this same demolishing process for quite s while. "Damn, doesn't look like were gonna be home for supper,"