I don't Gears of War or Mass Effect.
Bold-My Own Words
Bold & Italic-Locations, Time & Calendar
Normal-Narrative
"Normal"-Person Speaking
'Normal'-Thoughts
"Italic"-Foreign Languague
'Italic'-Radio Chatter
/Italic\-AI/Computer typing
Theme Song for Chapter: 'Spirit in the Sky' by Norman Greenbaum.
14th of Bloom, 2275 (415 AE)
0720 Hours
Onyx System
Sera
Republic of New Tyrus
Ephyra
Act 1
Part 1
"New Blood"
400 years after the end of the Locust War...
Ephyra Onyx Guard Academy
"Lance Corporal Julius Richard Fenix. Born 11th of Bloom, 2255, in Ephyra, New Tyrus. Enlisted for the USG Military on the 20th of Bounty, 2273. Shipped out and conducted Basic and Advance Training from the 31st of Bounty to the 15th of Thaw, 2273. Was, and still currently is, assigned to Echo Company, 8th Battalion, of the 20th Ranger Regiment, part of the 14th Infantry Division stationed outside of Aspho Fields, afterwards." The Academy Recruiter spoke aloud as he continued to read the file of the man before him.
The man before the recruiter was a 6'1", 180 pounds of solid muscle. The 20 year old had dark brown hair, and emerald green eyes. He wore the standard grey BDU of a Gear, with the his name, rank, and branch of service visible across his breastplate. He had a firm, muscular frame, with a gruffed and rugged-looking face. He was seated in one of the two chairs in front of the Recruiter's desk.
"You scored well on your academics. Have received praise and commendations for you and your Battalion's actions at the insurgency of Pelles back in Early Rise of 2274, which earned you your Lance Corporal promotion. And now, you're requesting to become an Onyx Guard." The Recruiter continued.
"Yes, sir." Julius responded, leaning forward in the chair slightly.
"May I ask why exactly you want to join the Onyx Guard? I'm not questioning your integrity or anything, but typically most Gears don't apply for the Guard until they have at least 5 years in the service under their belt. Sounds to me like you're trying to outdo your ancestors." The Recruiter chuckled.
"No, sir. I just feel that I would be best put to use with the Guard." Julius replied.
The Recruiter leaned back in his chair, "Hm. If I do recall, don't you have an older brother in CMI? Why not follow in his footsteps? Or your father's, even?" He questioned some more.
The CMI, Central Military Intelligence, was the main Intelligence gathering body of the Coalition Armed Forces (CAF). They were praised for their efficiency and well known for their contributions to advance AI research and development labs all across Sera. The CMI use the latest in Coalition tech and gadgets, in order to assist the CAF in completing their missions or whatever is required at the moment.
"Tyson is the one that's good with computers. I'm good with guns. I think that the Onyx Guard would just be the logical next step in my career, sir."
"I see." The Recruiter commented. With a sigh, he moved to stand up, "Well, the board will still have to greenlight an acceptance for you to begin training as an Onyx Guard. But, I don't see anything in your record that would diswayed them, save for the short amount of time you've been a Gear." He extended his hand towards Julius, who shook it and nodded. "Thank you, sir."
"I'll get back to you in a week if you haven't received an email or anything. Take care, Corporal."
With that and a 'thank you', Julius left the room and proceeded out of the large and main hallway of the building.
Julius stepped out to the site of the grand capital city before him. Ephyra had grown and changed much in the last 400 years, from being the capital of the COG to a ruined city during the Locust War, to a spiraling metropolis, that is also the capital of the USG, it is today. Some two dozen Skyscrapers towered over the city's skyline, while the massive Orbital Elevator dominates the skyline, which brought large quantities of resources and goods both to and from orbit.
He walked down the large staircase of the Academy, down towards the sidewalk where his car was parked. As he walked down the stairs, he glanced to his right and saw a mother with two young boys sitting at a bench while laughing and enjoying some frozen treats. Wincing, he turned his head and got in his car.
Turning the ignition and driving off, he turned on the radio to listen in to the news or some songs, anything to focus his attention away from anything family related.
Of course the Jackass would bring up his family, he's from the most famous family of the human race. And yet, his family had felt so distant from one another ever since his mother died. He hated it, and he hated the attention he got just because of his family name. He wasn't looking for fame or glory or any of that bullshit. He just wanted to do his duty as a soldier as every one of his ancestors had when they were needed to.
As he drove through Ephyra, back towards the Military Barracks at Ilima Army Base he called home, the radio blared on with the daily news of today.
'... Early today, the Hannover Cougars won their first away game today against longtime rivals, the Triesten Sharks in a 5-3 Victory. This match will also mark a milestone in linebacker Karen Johnson's career, as she score her 50th touchdown to date in her 3 years of playing Thrashball.'
'In colonial news, Contact was lost with the Sigma Argolis Monitoring Station last night, after the station reported detecting unusual energy patterns in the system. The USG are preparing a task group to go and investigate the cause of the lack of communication, but assured the public that the situation was fine and will be resolved shortly.'
'You have an incoming call from Sebastian Rojas.' A synthetic voice spoke, cutting off the radio. The dashboard screen showed the caller ID, which Julius pressed the button to accept the call. "Rojas, what's happening, buddy?"
'Fenix, where you at, man? You need to get back to the Barracks now.'
"I'm in Ephyra coming back from the Onyx Guard Academy. Why?"
'The whole 20th Rangers' has been mobilized, everybody's being called back. I think Command's gonna send us through the Relay.'
"Fuck." He cursed, "Alright, I'm on my way back now. Probably take about an hour to get there."
'Alright, man. See you then.' And with that, Julius ended the phone call and drove through Ephyra, making his way to the highway that would lead to Ilima Army Base. Picking up speed on the highway, his mind pondered whether or not they should be worried.
Losing contact with a monitoring station wasn't necessarily a call for concern. The vast distances those signals are travelling can often interfere, leading to periods of relative quietness among the monitoring stations. And usually, there was a patrol fleet nearby to investigate it if needed. But this monitoring station is 8,000 lightyears on the other side of a Relay, meaning it could be something else entirely.
"Ah, shit." Was all he muttered as he continued to speed down the highway to Ilima Army Base.
0801
41 Minutes Later
Ilima Army Base
Ilima Army Base. A massive, multi-complex base built over 200 years ago by the New Republic of Tyrus. With numerous barracks capable of housing 3 divisions, or 36,000 Gears, multiple motor pools, and an Airfield, Ilima Army Base was a sight to behold.
Julius pulled into the parking lot near his barracks and shut off his vehicle. Stepping out and closing the car door behind him, he raced inside. He entered the building and jogged over to where his bunk and locker was. Waiting over there was his squadmate, and best friend, Sebastian Rojas.
"Hurry and get over here, man. They getting ready to brief us." He spoke, as he walked down the room to where all the other Gears were.
At 6'0", 180 pounds, and 20 years old, Rojas was one of the only people on Sera Julius could call a friend, let alone his best friend. Rojas had known Julius since they were 6 years old, as the two were both picked on quiet a bit in school and often had to fend for themselves. Then they both decided to band together, later becoming close friends and had always had each others back since. Rojas has a slightly darker skin complexion, with black hair and baby blue eyes to match. On his left arm he had a tattoo with the word GEARS running the length of his upper arm, with two Gears Soldiers, in full combat gear, running out beside it.
"So any word on what exactly we're doing." Julius questioned as he walked over to the group, stopping next to Rojas.
"Not anything officially, but they told us we were mobilizing within minutes of word coming out that Sigma Argolis went dark. So chances are, they're sending us through the Relay."
"What the hell's got them all spooked?" Asked Kumar, a slightly older Gear with red hair and brown eyes, as he leaned over to them.
"Beats me, man. Maybe they think pirates or insurgents attacked it." Rojas replied.
"Company! Atten-tion!" The Gears all went to attention at the shout, all facing to the front. At this point, their CO, Captain Lao, walked into the room. "At ease, everyone. Gather 'round." The Gears moved in around the Captain, who faced all of them in front of the large monitor screen that descended down from the ceiling. As the screen turned on, the Emblem for the USG appeared on screen.
"Alright, boys and girls. Listen up. As most of you know, last night, at 0002 hours, contact was lost with Sigma Argolis' monitoring station after they detected several unusual energy spikes on their sensors." The Captain looked around the room, "That is, at least, the official story we told the public."
Murmurs began to stir within the Gears as Lao continued, "The truth, however, is that before contact was lost, Sigma Argolis was able to snap several photos on their long range probes on what cause the energy spikes." The monitor screen behind him changed to show a picture of Sigma's Gas Giant, HK416, and a couple of its orbiting moons. But their was something else in the picture as well, hiding with one of the moon's shadow.
Then Julius saw it. 12 large objects, bulky and angular, with a couple bulbous sections. He knew those weren't natural.
"Folks, what you are looking at, is an unknown group of what appear to be spaceships entering HK416's orbit. We know they're not any of the local pirates. We have what appears to be a first contact scenario."
Murmurs of "Holy shit." and "Damn." ran amok in the group. Captain Lao cleared his throat, "As most of you know, the 8th Battalion, along with the rest of the 20th Regiment, is going through the Prism Mass Relay with Battlegroup Proximus. Our orders are to land at the Monitoring station and ensure it's secured, while the fleet deals with the unknowns. We don't know if the aliens are hostile at this time, but our orders are to assume hostilities until proven otherwise."
"Rangers, you will go down there, secure that station, and if these ETs prove hostile... you will fuck them up properly as Gears do!" Cheers of approval came from the Gears as Captain Lao finished his speech. He smirked, "Alright, Rangers! Gear up and prepare to leave in 30 minutes. Shuttles are already waiting on us. Dismissed!"
0826
25 Minutes Later
"Everyone's here? Good, load up on the transport, now! Let's go!" Captain Lao shouted over the roar of the Strato-Falcon's engines, as the 8th Ranger Battalion all loaded onto their respective transports.
Julius and Rojas sat next to one another on the craft, as they waited for it to take off. "So, you think we're going to war?" Rojas spoke.
"I don't know, Rojas. All I know is that we're gonna find out when we get there. That, and if it does, you're standing in front when they start shooting." He smirked.
Rojas gave him a light jab on the shoulder, "Fuck you." the both chuckled.
"Okay, everyone. We're taking off! Strap in!" The pilot shouted. The Strato-Falcon rumbled as the thrusters lifted the craft off the ground, the troop bay ramp closing as the Falcon got higher and higher off the ground. Once the ramp was closed, the thrusters roared as the Falcon and the other transports flew upwards towards the Battlegroup in orbit.
The craft flew higher and higher into the atmosphere, until they were greeted with the black void of space. Nearby, they could see the Battlegroup waiting for them. Several of the Strato-Flacons were already entering the ships as their craft flew in and boarded one of the Destroyers.
The Battlegroup, numbering 10 ships, consisted of 1 Sargasso-Class Cruiser, 3 Forward unto Dawn-Destroyers, and 6 Thanos-Class Heavy Frigates, prepared for an FTL jump towards the Mass Relay in order to speed up getting to Sigma Argolis. With FTL Drives that could go about 6.2 Light-years a day, and with the fact they were already halfway across the Onyx System, they would reach the relay in just a couple hours.
Forward unto Dawn-Class Destroyer
CSS-Up in Flames DD-45
Personnel Bay
0952
'Attention, all personnel. We are approaching the Prism Mass Relay. Standby for Relay jump in t-minus 5 minutes. All combat teams are to gear up and prepare for deployment. Captain Richards, out.'The intercoms blared as the massive ship's engines rumbled, continuing towards the massive celestial object floating where the Dwarf Planet Prism once was.
The Personnel Bay was, in actuality, more or less the storage bay of the ship, where vehicles, ground troops and fighters are kept until need. With two seperate bays located near the rear of the ship, the exit points for air vehicles, which there were 6 of, were triple-sealed in order to protect the interior of the ship from hostile fire, as well as preserve the internal pressure and atmosphere. Currently, the
"I hope this isn't gonna be just another false alarm. That shit really pisses me off. Better be some pirate skulls or something to cave in, cause I'm getting anxious for some action." A Gear behind Julius began talking with a couple of his friends, much to their vocals of approval. Julius could only snort in amusement as he continued putting his combat armor on.
Apparently, the snort had been loud enough to catch the man's attention, as he looked over to Julius and questioned, "What's up? Don't feel the same way? Nervous?" his buddies chuckled slightly. He walked over and got roughly a foot away from Julius, looking him dead in the eye.
Julius looked right back, observing every detail about the person in front of him. The red hair, moss green eyes. The rank of Private on his BDU. He could tell right away that this man was either just fresh from basic or had only been in for a month or two max. The last time his unit saw action was against an insurgency in Ostruth about 4 months ago. Either way, no point busting this guys balls over who's the bigger badass.
"You're obviously new, so I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt. Be careful what you wish for, especially in our line of work." Julius replied, before looking back to his armor and resuming to put it back on. The chest piece gave a hiss as it sealed together with the other armor components and pressurized the inside.
"Tch, whatever, man. This chickenshit over here, man." The man continued to taunt and mock, obviously not taking his words seriously, as he and his buddies walked away.
"You just know just exactly what to say to make yourself popular with everybody, huh?" Rojas chuckled as he walked over, fully geared and helmet in hand.
"Whatever." Julius said as he finished putting on the last pieces of his armor, the L426 Hydra Combat Armor, then flexing his arms to make sure they were on properly.
After attaching the last piece of the denim blue colored armor on, Julius walked over and grabbed his weapons out of the weapons locker. He pulled out an G32A4 'Saber' Assault Rifle, an S4 'Butcher' Shotgun, and his trusted G12 'Fox' Heavy Pistol. He went about inspecting each and all of his weapons, to ensure there weren't any deficiencies in them. Rojas, having already done his weapons maintenance, walked over and helped out his old friend.
Fenix and Rojas finished up the maintenance check on the weapons, and placed all three weapons on the magnetic clamps on Julius' back. The two Gears then walked over to where the rest of the platoon was. Everybody was relaxed and calm, chatting and cheerfully conversing with one another. One would think that everything was fine, and that they were about to enter a possibly hostile situation. Julius hoped this is exactly what it would end up being.
"So any bets on what this'll will end up being?" One of the rangers, LCP Jones, questioned. He leaned back on the locker he was propped against.
"Tch, probably nothing. Aliens were probably just passing through and didn't even notice us." Pvt Garcia replied nonchalantly as she took a seat next to him.
"Hell, maybe they want to pick a fight."
"Hope not, man. Rather not wanna see where that goes."
"Aww, poor baby. Griffin's probably hoping for some hot alien chicks so he can finally get laid." A chorus of laughter erupted at the man's expense.
"Hey, fuck you, Petkov."
"Tch, I wouldn't be laughing, Petkov. I'd rather pick him over your ugly ass any day." Garcia remarked, earning even more laughter from the group.
Petkov flicked her off before proceeding to grab his genitals and speaking to Garcia, "Right here, honey. Dig in."
"What about you, Fenix. What do you think?"
Fenix, who had been deep in thought, was snapped out his trance and looked at the group before him, all eyes on him in anticipation of his response. Looking back and forth amongst the crowd, he felt extremely self-conscious and out of place. He didn't like being the center of attention. Never had, never will. That was more his brother's department, anyway.
Gathering his thoughts, he replied, "Can't say for certain. I just know we'll find out when we get there."
"Aw, come on, man. You seriously don't have-"
'Attention, all personnel. We are preparing to jump through the Prism Mass Relay. All Ground Forces, report to your respective transports and prepare for action. Jumping through relay in t-minus 30, 29, 28, 27...'
"Okay, everyone this is it. Mount up and prepare to drop. Move it, Rangers!" Captain Lao bellowed he and his squad got onboard one of the Strato-Falcons. Everybody else grabbed their rifles and did the same.
"Julius, let's go." Rojas spoke as the two ran with the rest of their platoon over to their transport. By the time everyone had gotten a seat on their repective crafts, the countdown was in the last few seconds before they would jump through the Relay. Several talked amongst themselves, other closed their eyes and rested. Julius simply sat there and looked out the open ramp, reminiscing about something he shouldn't be thinking of at the moment.
"You alright, man?" Rojas got his attention, causing him to look at his best friend and notice the concern in his eyes.
"Yeah, just a little uneasy that's all. I'll be good." He replied, leaning back in the seat as the countdown continued.
'5, 4, 3, 2, 1...'
Fenix and the rest of the Gears suddenly had a feeling of weightlessness that quickly dissipated as the ship shuttered fiercely, signalling it had gone through the Mass Relay. Fenix looked down to his orbital helmet, the polarized visor giving a reflection of his face in the reflection. Flipping it around, he put the helmet on and the helmet immediately connected with the body armor, his body now completely sealed and protected from the vacuum of space they were about to enter.
"Okay, Rangers. Let's get ready to rock!" Was all he heard as he primed his Saber and revved the weapon's chainsaw.
And our story begins...
(EPIC GEARS MUSIC BEGINS PLAYING!)
Alright, guys. First off, sorry that this took longer than I thought it would. Been having a bit of brain fart and writer's block for the better part of two weeks. :/ Not fun. But, hopefully you guys enjoyed this chapter and I look forward to seeing you in the next one.
PS- Do remember that I'm working on two other stories at the same time as this one, so bear with me as it might take a while before the next chapter comes out.
-Azores
Ceranium- A very strong and resilient Hybrid metal created from Titanium molecularly enhanced with Ceramic Armor.
Gears Military Ranking System is based off the United States Marine Corps.