Landown invasion…
The trees splintered under the force of the massive rigs; engines roared like lions as they made their way through the endless forest. The entire COG invasion force was composed of twenty thousand armed and suited Gears, hundreds of assault derricks, King Raven gunships and the whole 10th Centaur division escorting the derricks.
Lieutenant Colonel Kinsley stood at the head of the rig. His hands gripped on the railing, his eyes were locked on the rising sun. He stood in thought as the beautiful orange luminous glow from the underbelly of the clouds sparkled in his eyes.
So far so good, he thought. The Locusts haven't been alerted to our presence…yet.
"Sir, grindlifts are within ten miles," Al said through Kinsley's earpiece. "ETA in two hours."
"Roger that, Al," Kinsley replied. "Give me an update when we're within five miles. Over."
"Roger that, sir. Out."
To Kinsley's left, there was a woman laying on a pillow of clouds. Under her was the name "Trish" in bold letters.
At least not everyone had lost their humanity, he grinned. Humanity… That word would mean a whole lot when this invasion is a success.
On deck were the 3rd Alpha company, nearly forty Gears, and Spec Ops unit, Echo squad.
The company of Gears spent their time either looking over the railings, prepping up for the invasion or chatting to their fellow comrades.
But as for Echo squad, they sat quietly and coolly, watching the Alphas. One of the Echo members turned their head to Kinsley's direction; the soulless expression of the mask gave a small chill up his spine.
Composed of Echo squad was Major Dixon, Captain Sheppard, Lieutenant Jacob, Gunnery Sergeant Cruise, Staff Sergeant White, Lance Corporal Culshaw, Corporal Colton, Corporal Brandon, Private First Class Alyssa and Corpsman Turner.
Even if none of the Echoes had removed their helmets, Kinsley had already told them apart.
The Major was the only one with a Gnasher shotgun. Sheppard carried a Scorcher flamethrower, and the Lieutenant carried most of the equipment. The Gunnery was the biggest Gear on deck, nearly the size of a Berserker. The Staff Sergeant was the heavy gunner and had a portable Mulcher for his primary weapon, and the Lance Corporal was the squad's sniper and scout. Corporal Colton always displayed his COG tag proudly around his neck and Corporal Brandon always played around with his combat knife, twirling it around his gauntlet fingers. PFC Alyssa was the smallest Gear on deck and the Corpsman had a red cross on his left bicep.
"Sir, Chairman Prescott is making an announcement on COG broadcast, now." Al radioed in.
Kinsley nodded then tuned in to the broadcasting.
"We had hoped the Lightmass bombing at Timgad would decimate the Locust Horde, but they survived, and returned stronger than ever. They've brought with them a force that can sink entire cities.
"Even Jacinto, our last beacon of hope through all these dark days, is now at risk. Soon we'll have nothing left to defend and that means we only have one option: Attack!
"Gears, what I ask of you now is not an easy thing, but it is necessary. If we are to survive, if we are to live long enough to see the seasons pass, our children grow, and experience a time of peace that we have never known, we must now take this fight to the Locusts.
"We will go to where they live and where they breed and we will destroy them!
"This is the day we take the battle to the heart of the enemy! This is the day we correct the coarse of human history! This is the day we ensure our survival as a species!
"Soldiers of the COG, my fellow Gears, go forth and bring back the hope of humanity!… And Godspeed."
An uproar from the other derricks alerted Kinsley.
Little do they know is that broadcast was made private, he grimaced.
"Sir, we're within five miles from Landown," Al reported. "ETA in an hour."
"Roger," Kinsley confirmed, giving Al a thumbs up. "Keep up the good work. "
Taking a look up at the sky, Kinsley spotted dozens of dots hovering above.
"What the…" Kinsley squinted, struggling to make out the distant objects.
Culshaw sat looking at the deck. After hearing the Lieutenant Colonel's statement, he peered up the sky and had also spotted the dots. He slowly rose and shouldered his Longshot sniper rifle, sighting through the optical scope.
Immediately he lowered his rifle, and shouted, "Nemacyst!"
With piercing shrieks, the living explosives jetted forward, leaving behind the columns of black smog entrails. They sped up, targeting the leading rig.
"Open fire!" Kinsley shouted before shouldering his Lancer rifle and emptying a clip at the inbound enemy motors.
Bullets tore through the air, whistling pass the saboteurs. An Alpha manned the Mulcher turret on the raised platform and without bothering to aim, he let loose a hail of projectiles into the sky.
Random explosions filled the sky causing the rest of the Nemacysts to disperse, targeting the other vehicles.
Like a raining barrage of comets, the Nemacysts exploded on their targets or near them; derricks, tanks and flying gunships alike were hit. One of the Locust saboteurs had made it pass the hissing bullets and dove on to Al's rig, obliterating two Alpha members and sent thousands of bone fragments to pierce Gear armor.
Half of the Gears in Alpha company dropped to the deck, screaming in pain.
Kinsley kept up his fire, ignoring the cries of death behind him. He suddenly duck as a Nemacyst flew in low, nearly taking his head. He spun quickly and fired at the creature.
After being hit the beast crashed against a tree.
In the sky the King Ravens stood no chance against the saboteurs.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Where the Nemacysts had been waiting before were now the Man-eaters Calvary; the Locust Hordes most infamous Reaver Riders.
They watched the onslaught, laughing at the carnage below and anxious to get into the fight.
Loko, the leader of the Man-eaters, was silent while watching the humans dying under their stupidity.
They rolling into unknown territory, without scouting the land, he thought. This is their downfall…
He puffed out his chest and swung a war club over his head, then roared out a battle cry!
"The time is now! It's time to kill the infidels!"
Loko spurred his mount forward; his beast letting out a monstrous call, then obeyed its master.
The other Riders urged their beasts forward, howling barbarically and followed their leader.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Staff Sergeant White looked up to the sky and spotted the new threat diving toward them.
"Reavers!"
He raised the barrels of the Mulcher Gatling gun to the sky. The rotating barrels slowly spun until spilling out bullets, unleashing hell.
The Alpha on the turret ignored the remaining Nemacysts and targeted the inbound Beast Riders, screaming as he fired.
Like the Nemacysts, the Reaver Riders veered left and right, dodging as many projectiles as they could.
"We need air support!" Kinsley shouted in his throat mic. "We're under attack!"
"Copy that, Lieutenant Colonel," a woman replied. "King Ravens inbound, ETA in thirty seconds."
Kinsley had no time to respond. The Locust Calvary began to circle around the convoy. They taunted the COG, firing off a few rounds, snatching up Gears and lifting them up hundreds of feet into the air, only to drop them back to earth.
Captain Sheppard tucked and rolled before the massive jaws of a Reaver could take his head. He recovered, taking cover behind the armored plating of the rails and prepared the flamethrower. As another Reaver came in close, Sheppard spat out a lance of flames from his Scorcher.
The Godforsaken beast veered off, squealing, and disobeyed its master's commands.
Culshaw took careful aim through the Longshot's scope, not letting any of the chaos distract him. Slowly squeezing the trigger, the Longshot crackled and the bullet hit a Reaver Rider off his beast. Grinning, the Lance Corporal took aim and successfully shot another rider off his mount.
The sound of the King Ravens' rotors boomed over head. Chain guns began to fire and rockets launched straight ahead.
The Riders urged their mounts forward, ready to ram the choppers.
Seconds later the two sky cavalries collided, and a whole new battle erupted in the air.
Major Dixon was reloading his shotgun, when he stopped. Distant trees snapping and shifted.
His heart nearly skipped a beat as he thought of what lied ahead. But then colossal moans confirmed his fear.
"Brumak!"