Gears of War: Legacy

Chapter 1: The Crash

There was a loud hum of noise as several ravens flew overhead, Marcus glanced up to watch them for a just a second before turning back to stare at Jacinto's Hospital. All around him stretchers were screeching past as wounded gears passed him moaning in agony towards the hospital.

He sighed loudly, "It never ends…" Anya suddenly appeared next to him. Her blonde hair was tied back into a bun like usual and she was wearing her gray Cog high command outfit. Her face one of mild surprise as she watched all the wounded past by.

"They're getting bolder, these gears were guarding Pameroy depot," she responded absently still watching the wounded pass by. Dom came up behind her fully equipped with his lancer gripped calmly in between his powerful hands.

"Damn, that's just down the road," he said making Anya turn to him instantly.

"Exactly, they're moving deeper every day," she said sounding distressed. Dom raised his brows in surprise and looked up when the hum of another raven neared. Marcus and Anya followed his gaze and watched the chopper as it circled around the hospital once before beginning to descend.

Eventually it landed, allowing two helmeted gears to hop off. "At least we got reinforcements," Dom said happily watching the two jog. Marcus turned to him sternly.

"Yeah, but for how much longer?" Dom allowed the question to process in his head and decided not to reply. Instead it was Anya who spoke again.

"Okay, I'm heading to the hospital now. I need to check on that lead." Dom stared at her for a long moment; Marcus caught the look he was giving her. He's desperate to know…

"Thanks Anya, I…," Dom paused, looking unsure of what to say. "Good luck, alright?" Anya stared at him for a moment, her blue eyes searching his brown ones. After a moment she flashed a weak smiled and strode off, away from Dom and Marcus. They both watched her like most gears did, but they weren't having the same thought process most gears did. Most gears just dream of making love to her…

Suddenly a higher pitched voice broke through the commotion of the cog forces. "Sergeant Fenix! Hey are you Sgt. Fenix? Delta squad?" Marcus and Dom both turned quickly to watch a skinny gear approach them. He was walking clumsily with a big bag slung over one shoulder, his other hand holding his lancer unprofessionally. Thank god he's wearing a helmet, otherwise that'd be another young face I'd have to see and remember in this war.

Marcus frowned and made a brief face of sadness that neither Dom nor the approaching rookie noticed. His facial feature then returned to normal, as if the thought had never occurred in his mind.

Just as the rook got within two feet of Dom and Marcus he dropped his lancer to the cement. "Oh, whoops," he bent over awkwardly to pick it up just as Anya suddenly reappeared in between Dom and Marcus. She watched the rookie in amusement.

"I'm your new trainee," the rook said once he had retrieved his lancer. Anya smirked and turned her head towards Marcus.

"And green as grass by the looks of it. Time to train the rook?" The Sergeant made a brief face of disgust.

"Yeah, lucky me," he muttered making Anya smile. She began moving away still facing him.

"Go easy on the kid, okay?" Marcus half smiled at her and watched her go once again. He then gave Dom a painful look before turning his attention back to the rook who had set his things down and was moving back towards them.

"Private Ben Carmine sir! Reporting for duty, sir!" He made his best effort to look impressive puffing his chest out as he saluted. Marcus immediately made a face of annoyance.

"Drop the sir shit kid, were not that polite out here." Marcus turned to glance at Dom again, "C'mon let's go." With those words the Sergeant turned on his heel and began leading Dom. Ben watched clueless for a second, then quickly remembered to grab his things before chasing after the duo.

Marcus looked up and down the street briefly before crossing Dom at his side and Ben bringing up the rear. "Marcus, those alley ways look like a good place to train him," Dom pointed to an alley in between two brick buildings.

Marcus nodded, "Exactly what I was thinking," he replied sounding distant. The two experienced gears walked into the alley with Ben following closely behind. Once they were surrounded by brick and well into the alley, they turned to face Ben who was looking all around in some strange sort of awe.

"Alright kid, let's start with the basics. I hope you know how to get into cover?" Dom chuckled a little bit at the rhetorical question as the rook dropped his bag and picked up his lancer.

"Uh yes sir, I mean, sergeant or… yeah," he babbled as he took a knee against the back bumper of a car near by. "Look good Sergeant?"

Marcus nodded and looked at Dom hopelessly. The last thing I wanted to deal with, a damn kid. Now I got one on my hands that could easily get killed. Great, just great…

"Just make sure you keep your head down man, gotta be on the watch for those snipers," Dom said mistakenly, he had completely forgotten about Anthony. But his words instantly made Marcus curious to ask.

"Did you have a brother by the name of Anthony Carmine?" The rookie stood up slowly and nodded.

"Yeah, theirs four of us brothers, not counting my dad." Marcus nodded in understanding giving Dom a look of pity. The rookie suddenly stared at the ground and looked back up, "Why? Did you know him?"

Marcus scratched the back of his head and looked away. Dom watched sadly then turned to the rookie calmly. "We were serving with him when he died," he explained.

Ben stared at Dom for a few moments lowering his lancer. "Oh… well, did he die a heroic death?" Dom glanced at Marcus who was still staring at the cement beneath his boots.

"Yeah, it was heroic as any other," Dom said taking a few steps forward. "Come on; let's see if we can find some sort of targets to shoot at." Ben watched Dom walk by then stared at Marcus who still hadn't moved.

"Um, Sergeant? You okay?" The voice echoed in Marcus's mind like a ticking time bomb and suddenly exploded launching him into a series of memories. Anthony's voice could be heard despite the gunfire in the most of them, and so was Kim's.

"Look! See! My gun's jammed!" Suddenly a booming shot shook the gears as Anthony fell flat to his back holding his profusely bleeding face. In a matter of seconds he was no longer rolling and laid still. Stiller than a statue.

Finally Marcus opened his eyes and looked up at the sky just in time to watch a raven pass over head. He then spun around to face Ben and Dom who were watching with anticipation on their faces. "I'd love to stand here all day Marcus, but were kind of in a war here, remember?"

Marcus sighed, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, let's see if we can find something to shoot at."

Once again the trio began moving, deeper into the alley and soon through a chain link fence's gate. All three were silent now that they had discussed Anthony Carmine's demise; it felt awkward now training the gear's younger brother to Marcus.

"Are you Sergeant Marcus Fenix? The one that fought at Aspho Fields?" He recalled the ride in the raven when he first met Anthony. Now that he thought about it, Ben didn't seem too different from his brother at all.

"Alright Marcus, check those out, looks like the stranded lined em up for us to shoot at," Dom exclaimed. Sure enough several empty beer bottles were lined up along a car and part of a wooden fence.

"I doubt they set them up for us Dom, remember, they hate us?"

Dom laughed, "Oh come on man, can't we just pretend they don't for once?" Marcus let a smile cross his lips as he shook his head and turned to the rookie.

"Well kid, have at em, just try not to waste too much ammo." Ben bobbed his helmeted head and took a step forward taking aim with his lancer. As far as shooting stance, he was perfect, and when the first shot shattered the bottle on top the fence, Marcus could tell he had shooting down well too.

The shooting and bottle exploding soon continued until the rookie had shot all thirteen bottles. He then lowered his lancer and turned to Marcus and Dom eagerly. "How was that!"

Marcus nodded his approval. "That was great man, you didn't miss a single bottle and only needed a bullet for each," Dom said cheerfully. Suddenly a loud humming was heard making all three gears look up. They heard the noise for nearly a minute and were still hearing it. "Marcus, what do you think that is? A raven?"

Marcus shook his head, "No, a raven's not that loud," suddenly his blue eyes caught a black object in the sky. His eyes widened when he realized it was coming straight for them at a speed he couldn't comprehend. "EVERYONE GET INTO COVER!"

Immediately the trio split each member running one direction or the other. Dom took cover behind a dumpster while Marcus hid behind the car on the other side of the chain like fence with Ben. The object was getting closer and closer and soon it was recognized as a ship, seconds before impacting the cement where the trio once stood.

There were screeches as the greenish rusty ship skidded into the wall slamming. Their were a few seconds before one side of the ship popped open emitting a huge cloud of smoke that leaked out giving the alley a foggy like appearance as the gears approached the ship aiming their lancers. Suddenly a robed arm reached out of the ship and soon an African American man climbed out standing in front of them with hands up in the air.

He wore a turban and a sand colored robe, something the gears had never seen in their life times. Then just when Marcus was about to speak, a much smaller person climbed out to stand up next to the man. It took Marcus several moments to recognize her as a girl because of her unusual short black hair.

After a few moments of silence, the girl whispered something to the man that Marcus just barley made out, "Think they're looking for Riddick?" Who in hell's name was Riddick?

"Hey quit talking! Who the hell are you guys," Marcus demanded taking a few casual steps away from his fellow gears. His lancer was still being aimed with lethal accuracy.

The man swallowed hard, "Please, we come hoping to cause no harm but I would recommend not harming us becau-," the girl cut him off. "Because if you harm us, Riddick will kick your asses!" The man flashed the girl a look that she practically seemed to flinch at.

Marcus furrowed his brow and shot a look at Dom who shrugged. He then turned back to the two, "Who's this Riddick? Is he with you two?"

"It's Richard B. Riddick actually… you should really learn your names better," an icy, low voice replied making Marcus and Dom both whip around just in time to see Ben get grabbed by a muscular, bald headed man wearing black goggles. He had a massive knife pressed to the rookie's neck and a smile planted on his face.

"Who the hell are you guys? And what the hell are you doing here!" Marcus was beginning to get angry, Dom could tell.

"Shut up! You answer my questions first," the bald man known at Riddick retorted. "Where the hell are we and what's the price on my head now?" Marcus looked confused, he almost lowered his gun he was so confused… but instead he glanced at Dom.

"What's the price on your head? The price on your head isn't worth shit here!" Marcus tensed preparing to aim a shot hopefully past Ben's helmeted face straight into his captor's forehead.

A smile appeared on Riddick's face and soon he burst out laughing loudly. "There's always a price on my head some where, even here. But you know what really pisses me off?"

"No, but I know who's really pissing me off right now," Marcus growled in response making Riddick tighten his grip on a squirming Ben. "Let go of him!"

Riddick smirked, "Not until you drop that gun." Dom watched in complete anxiety. He was consistently spinning around to aim at Riddick's companions. Neither of the two seemed to have moved yet…

Marcus returned the smirk, "Over my dead body," he hissed. Again Riddick laughed echoing throughout the alley. When he stopped, he simply stared at Marcus, as if waiting for him to make the first move.

And so there the six stood. All interlocked in a fierce standoff. It was uncertain what the outcome would be, but something in Marcus's head told him it was going to be a hell of a showdown…