Marcus slid to a stop. Cole just passed him, stopping just in time to turn.

"You guys hear that?" Marcus stated. Dom and Baird, both just behind their Sergeant, looked around. The gunshots had stopped "Fights over."

"You think they're dead, or-" Dom asked, walking up beside Marcus.

"Alpha, come in, do you copy?" Marcus growled firmly. Again there was nothing. "Command, we've lost contact with Alpha, can you confirm if they are K.I.A.?" Marcus tried Anya, hoping they had sights on their partners out in the battlefield. Yet she never responded. "Anya, do you read? ANYA! SHIT!"

"Seeders," Dom stated, glancing about again," Always seeders."

"So, we going to rip some Seeders apart, or are we going to try a blind search? 'Cus either way it's going to suck," Baird stated.

"We're going to find those Seeders. If Alpha is dead, we'll collect to Cog tags later. If they're alive, they'll probably have noticed the lack of communication, and probably have started looking for seeders as well. We get lucky enough to run into one another."

"Lucky… since when have we been lucky," Baird grumbled to himself as he strode past Dom and Baird.

"What about the objective?" Cole asked.

"It'll have to wait… we can't do shit without intel," Marcus replied. It was true that without commands information, their performance could be haltered. But they had gone without contact previously for prolonged durations. The seeders just became their next target. "Too bad for the seeders," Marcus chuckled grimly.

"Hell yeah!" Cole nodded excitedly. It was back to slaying Locust.

"Lets get moving. How does the road over here look?" Marcus asked to Dom, who was staring up and down the mentioned road.

"We'll see, wont we?"

"Yeah… I guess we will."


"Well whoever was fighting stopped."

Up, above an exposed street that lead to a old museum, four stranded rested, all appearing to be in their late teens. One lay on his back against a destroyed wall of a former two story building. The building in question was the remains of a small church. While the first floor of the building had been spared from a bomb blast, the entire roof and large sections of the walls had been cleaved away, turning it into a potential watch tower.

The speaker laid against the wall, dressed in ragged civilian clothing. He sported dirty blond hair he tied back into a pony tail. In his arms was a lancer assault rifle, attached however was not a chainsaw, but a large bayonet. Two of his comrades stood against pillars, once supports for the rooftop, also armed with the assault rifle. Another, wearing a red cap that concealed his short black hair, laid on his back, watching the patchy sky.

"I'm bored," the blond stated after a moment where his words met no response.

"You're always bored," One from the pillars spoke.

"Well we aren't doing anything. I expected this to be a lot more fun than just sitting around all day," The blond retorted.

"Sorry, who's bright idea was this?" the second from the rotting, wooden pillar hissed," Sorry if you don't get along with your big man, but this was your idea. We agreed to come along after you asked us. You said it would be fun!"

"Give him credit," the one lying down added," the first day it was. Avoiding being caught was fun… sort of."

"Fun in the sense that we could have been shot at, or killed," one of the two from the pillar stated. This had the blond get up from his slack position and lean against the wall, putting his elbows up against the wall and to stare down onto the street. They were right, sadly enough. His Romantic ideas of what life outside the city was like seemed to have been wrong. Only then did four figures walk out into the open, armed. He ducked down.

"Shhhit!" the blond hissed, his eyes wide.

"Cut yourself?" the one lying down asked dully.

"Frank, shut up," The blond hissed, just above a whisper.

"What is going on?" one asked. "Eric?"

"I said SHUT UP!" The blond with Eric as a name hissed, nearly spitting as he motioned for them to get down. A moment of watching the man crouch like that, they too lowered themselves hurriedly, and Frank, the one lying down, got on his knees. "There's someone out there," he whispered, and nodded for them to get a look with him. Slowly, they all moved to the ledge of the building, and stared down. "Oh shit, not Locust."

"Almost as bad… Gears," the disgruntled friend stated.

"What do you think they're doing out here?" Frank asked.

"No idea," Eric whispered. His eyes widened as a light bulb in his head exploded. "Wait a second, what are they doing here?" he re-stated. "We should find out!"

"What?"

"Why?"

"I told you guys life out here was more exciting than it was back at Rexington, and here's a chance to see why," Eric explained, laying out his simple idea as slowly as he could.

"We're going to stalk cogs? Really? That's the best-"

"Wait a second," Frank muttered. "The really big guy, I just caught a glimpse of his face."

"What? So?"

"Dude, that's Augustus Cole!" Frank almost shouted, the excitement getting the better of him. "That's the-"

"Cole Train," all four said simultaneously. They may have been too young to have seen the ridiculously famous Thrashball player in his prime, but replays on television recordings and holographic records allowed them to see one of the greatest defensive linemen in history. Even as it had been years since official Thrashball games have been held, the games still were part of peoples time, watching plays over and over during less dangerous days. The Cole Train was a Hero to the stranded.

"Do you think he'd sign my hat?" Frank asked.

"I'd think he'd eat your face is you asked him to. He's bigger in person that I thought," one of the two others mentioned.

"You'll have to wait for that signature dude," Eric stated, his voice stricter," we're not the only ones watching them," he nodded across the street to buildings on the same level. Locust Grubs were moving quietly inside the buildings, armed and watching the human soldiers," and I don't think they're looking for autographs."

"Nice," Frank smiled and fist bumped with Eric," there's your one-liner of the day." They both turned back, their faces devoid of the smile they shared a moment ago. Eric then slunk to the right. "What's up?"

"I'm going to follow them. They might need help," Eric said, making sure to remain behind cover as he slid down from the church onto a barricaded roof of the other buildings.

"What? Why the hell should we care about some fascist pig soldiers?" one of the three replied.

"I've always wanted to fight alongside the gears of war," Eric said, more to himself than to the others. After a glance, Frank followed, and so did the other two.

"We got fans," Baird grumbled.

"What?" Dom asked, cocking his head back slightly, looking up and around. He spotted several figures above them to the right side rooftops. "He isn't kidding. It looks like some stranded following us."

"Leave them be," Marcus decided. "They shouldn't bother us. Probably hope we get killed or something and then take our gear."

"What makes you think that?" Dom walked backwards, keeping his eyes on the spot he had last seen the four figures while keeping pace with his squad.

"Why else would they be following us?" Marcus reasoned.

"They just want to see the raw, Locust eatin' machine I am, that's all!" Cole laughed," in the flesh ain't quite like it is on a screen!"

"Cole," Dom started after a chuckle," you never get tired of it, do you?"

"Hell no!"

Marcus let a single grimace of a smile go by. Cole was truly a great person to have around. Marcus stopped his movement though. A Museum up ahead seemed to be the only solid way out, as buildings on either side seemed to be blocked by caved in structure. This wasn't what had him stop. He felt the ground shaking.

"LOCUST!" he screamed. Instantly, he and Dom rolled to the left, while Baird and Cole rolled to the left. Once behind the refuge, each half of Delta spotted their followers. Marcus's eyes made contact with one of the Stranded, who's blue eyes widened with shock at his speed. Baird on the other hand spotted stalking Drones up above Marcus and Dom.

"They're behind us!" Baird announced as he opened fire. Cole roared as he too joined the attack. Dom spun around and glanced up, trying to catch a peek of the enemy above them. Marcus however was watching ahead. A large section of the ground was falling away. As he raised his gun to blast the incoming Grubs back into their shit hole, he heard more emergence holes popping up from behind.

"Goddamn it!" he roared, and began to mow down a collection of just emerged Drones with Dom. It was their turn today to be attacked by Locust. Then there was more gunfire. From above Cole and Baird, four more guns joined the fight, holding back the now numerous Locust that had began to pour out of their entrance holes. One of them, presumably their leader, turned to one.

"Gimme a grenade," He was handed one, the blond handed it back fiercely," a frag grenade, you retard!" the grenade owner spat a curse and almost slammed the chain-held grenade into his face. "Gears! Incoming!" the Blond shouted as he tossed the grenade to the locust emergence hole up ahead. It bounced and landed perfectly into the grub hole, where several inhuman voices cried in alarm as they spotted the grenade falling past them. An explosion of dirt and cement, with some bloody chunks of Locust, filled the gaping hole.

"Dom, move it up! Cole, Baird, provide support until we get the door open!" Marcus shouted across the street as he and Dom made for the large, thick, metal doors of the museum.

"Don't leave us hanging!" Baird cried back, shooting down a possible grenadier.

Marcus and Dom rushed past the bodies of several slain Drones and continued to the door. "One, two, three," Dom counted and they both tried to kick the door down, only producing a loud and resonating thud.

"Jack, get this door open now!" Marcus shouted, turning to spot a Grub a floor above. He knocked it down with a quick flash of bullets. With a beep, the Jack of All Trades Robot de-cloaked and hovered to the door. With a bright light of a welder beginning to slice down the two barricaded doors, Dom and Marcus watched for any more incoming attackers. "Cole! Baird! The door is getting sliced open!"

"Right!" Baird cried, getting up and leaving before Cole had.

"I'll be back for you suckas!" Cole shouted, shooting down as many as he could while marching backwards.

"Hey! Wait!" a stranded from above called, as one jumped down, and turned to shoot back at the Locust. It was only then Marcus realized they were kids. Kids with guns following a bunch of Gears.

"Get out of here!" Dom shouted, waving off to the Stranded behind them, motioning them to run away. Instead, they one by one, with a gun or two always shoot back at the Locust, now a massive mob of guns, started running towards the Gears. The first was the blond, who slammed his back against the walls next to the door.

"Good morning!" he greeted them, and fired some more at the Locust. "Frank, come on!" The man in the red cap started running, one hand on his gun and the other on his hat, as he charged after his leader. "Come on you guys!" the other two were taking longer actually fighting the Locust.

"GET OVER HERE!" Marcus shouted as he heard the doors behind him become loose. "GET INSIDE!" He screamed. One of the two took a bullet to the head. "SHIT!" The other, realizing his friends fate, shouted and started for the others, only to fall, another bullet ripping through his knee.

"REG!" the blond shouted, the red-capped one holding him back, dragging him inside as the wounded Stranded crawled in pain towards them, only to be shot down the back by an advancing Drone. "FUCK! NO!" Marcus had seen and heard enough. Grabbing the two by the shoulders, he nearly threw them inside, turned to shoot back the Locust, and ran inside with his squadmates and Jack.

"Cole, close the damn door! Jack, weld it back up; find shit to barricade the door!" Marcus stated as he, Dom, and Baird began to pull heavy display cases to the front entrance. Cole slid out of the way just in time. Jack began welding the instant the display was shoved into the door frame. Marcus watched for a moment as the door was sealed, and then heard disgruntled Locust outside. Only then he recalled he had visitors. He turned to the: one on the floor, panting with eyes wide, the other leaning against a wall, a hand over his face.

"Godamn… I told them to come… It was me-" the blond leader was shaken from his moment of sorrow as Marcus marched over, wrenched him up and slammed him next to his friend, who dropped the hand.

"What the hell- okay, okay," the one with a red cap demanded, only to find two lancers in his face. Baird was quick to add a gun to the equation, and Marcus wouldn't allow two strangers this close without trust," I'm just following his orders," the kid stated, nodding left to the blond next to him.

"Thanks for the support, you jackass," the blond muttered darkly, staring at Marcus.

"Just what are you dumb shits thinking?" Marcus asked after a moment. "You don't just rush up and start shooting with people you don't know."

"I wouldn't started shooting along a Locust, if that's what you're saying-" the Stranded teenage leader answered hurriedly.

"What if I decided right now I thought my ammo count was more important than your life?" Marcus growled, holding the chainsaw of his gun a little closer to the neck of the Stranded," what If I thought that Stranded were piece of shit scum-"

"Which they are," Baird agreed, causing Marcus to glare at him for a moment.

"-that I liked seeing dead rather than fighting? Did you ever think of that?" It was clear this scenario hadn't crossed the Blond kids mind, as his eyes darted around, his mind thinking of options.

"I just thought you guys wanted to kill Locust…" he muttered, fear growing in his eyes. Marcus held the gun up to him only a moment longer, and then lowered it.

"You're right. That's part of our job," Dom stated, satisfied with the ending not being covered in blood," but we have things to do that are bigger than that," Marcus noticed Baird hadn't lowered the gun. The man had an interesting detest in stranded, possibly since the feast he shared with Cole several days ago that resulted in him having some nasty intestinal problems.

"Baird," Marcus ordered.

"Alright, alright," Baird nodded as he lowered the gun," just thought they wanted to get the message loud and clear."

"You guys hate, Stranded, we get it," the one in the cap stated, and he leaned next to his friend," this was a fucking faaantastic idea you had."

"Look, its not that we hate Stranded," Dom stepped up, uneasy with these two being treated like this," but we've had some bad run-ins. My names Dominic," he stated, holding out his hand. The leader eyed it, and then Marcus for a moment before taking it.

"Eric… just Eric."

"And I'm Frank," the friend stated, much warmer than before," glad to meet you Dominic."

"Just call me Dom."

"Hey… are you the Cole Train?" Eric slowly asked the man lurking behind the three, watching with mild interest. With his recognition he let a huge smile creep across his lips.

"The one and only Number Eighty-Three baby!" Cole stated, pushing past Baird to get to his new fans.

"Can you… oh shit, I dropped my pen," Frank muttered," when I get a pen, can you sign my hat?"

"Hell yeah man!" Cole said, giving the kid a bone shaking slap on the shoulder. Aside from nearly being slapped onto the ground, the teenager looked like he could die happy. Eric laughed at his expression.

"I'm Marcus," the Sergeant announced himself," and this is Baird. We got a mission to do," he said, looking at the very much pleased Cole.

"Wait… you can't tell us?" Eric stated," we can, you know, help you guys out?"

"Don't work well with Stranded," Baird quickly stated, walking past Marcus into the center of the entrance hall of the museum.

"What's his problem?" Eric asked quietly to Dom.

"Honestly, I think someone sewed his ass a little too tight," he joked to the others," but no, we can't tell you guys what we're doing. Sorry, it's nothing personal."

"Yeah, we're just professionals," Cole simplified with a dignified shrug. Marcus lifted a hand to his ear, and still heard nothing.

"Damn it… still no word… Seeders must be close by at least."

"Wait a second," Eric stood off the wall, walking closer to the massively muscular and tall Marcus," you're looking for the seeders?" Marcus eyed the kid. They knew where the Locust put the seeders.

"Well… it looks like you can tag along," Marcus nodded as he found himself in the company of two new allies," as long as you don't start any trouble-"

A muffled boom somewhere inside the building shot through the walls, knocking dust off the display cases. The six humans lifted their weapons up, scanning around the marble surfaces and rotting wooden walls. Dom and Marcus looked about, oddly familiar with the setting. A huge, terrible scream was heard, loud and frighteningly unearthly. The four squadmates of Delta exchanged glances. The atmosphere changed from a recently established calm to a hushed panic.

"Oh shit," Baird gasped as another, closer boom was heard, and above them the glass chandelier shook dangerously.

"Berserker," Marcus groaned.

"The female Locust?" Eric asked, hushing his words carefully. His gun zoomed about as he thought it could appear from any wall.

"Put it down," Dom whispered to him from across the hall," bullets don't do shit to this thing… Cole, you still have the H.O.D.?" Cole nodded to him," Marcus, we should get to the other side of this building, and get a clear shot of it."

"I like it-" Marcus shut up as the closest boom yet echoed from hallways not far off.

"Why are you guys whispering," Frank asked, also keeping his voice low.

"Berserkers don't have the best sight, but they make up for it in their smell and hearing," Baird stated in encyclopedia like clarity," They'll track you down without so much as seeing what you look like."

"…oh," Frank said, nearly breathing his words. One more bang, this time more distant had Baird sigh with relief; it was moving off. A metal snap up above had him look up- and he dived out of the way just in time to dodge a falling chandelier. After the glass and metal pieces all stopped clanging and crashing noisily, they all heard progressive bang after bang shaking the walls.

"Shiiiiit," Marcus groaned.


"Delta squad, this is Alpha, do you read, over?" Mark loudly announced for the third time, growing impatient for the equipment," Damn it!"

"Seeders?" Taylor suggested.

"Must be," Mark agreed," I can't think of anything else…" he and his friend chanced a glance at the Spartan. He had gone around, examining the Drones and their weapons, the Hammerburst compact rifle. Howard and Carey had stuck close to their leader, keeping an eye on the apparent 'Spartan'," unless he's responsible for this."

"Don't blame us," Cortana replied coolly, easily picking up their conversation," we're blocked as well, so if you think this is some conspiracy against you four, save yourself a headache and relax."

"Right," Mark said uneasily," relaxing is kind of hard when you're looking at an alien that just took out an entire attack group of Locust."

"That sort of ability is hard to see with humans," Carey added, his deadly calm voice having returned.

"That's us, by the way," Howard explained," we're human. It's the name of our species."

"I know what humans are! The Chief is human you idiots," Cortana hotly replied, not enjoying being spoken down to like she was a faulty program," and we come from Earth- of course we know what humans are!" Aside from taking a half step back, the group of soldiers had exchanged several glances at the name 'Earth'.

"Cortana," the chief stated, keeping his com off to the others," I get the feeling they aren't aware of Earth."

"I don't see how that's possible," Cortana replied, also keeping the conversation private," the chances of there being two separate, but nearly identical cultures in a galaxy develop independent of one another is slim to none, and then having two biological species develop in separate parts of the galaxy, or even the universe, is astronomically minuscule."

"Wish I could agree," the chief stated, turning from inspecting one Grub that had been torn in half to look at the soldiers, again whispering among themselves," they got here somehow. And if earth isn't the answer, then what?"

"I… I don't know," Cortana admitted," but that'll have to be something we can work on later. Right now you should find the source of interference and stop it. Then we can find a center leadership."

"Talk to the higher ups… sounds good," The Chief liked it. And so he turned, and started walking past the others.

"H-hey, where're you going?" Mark asked after a moment.

"We're going to destroy what is causing the interference," Cortana responded for the Chief, who continued walking, almost forcing the others to follow in his wake," and then report to your leaders. It is crucial we bring ourselves up to speed with your worlds head of Military."

"Hold on, you're going after the Seeders? And you have an idea where it is?" Taylor asked, incredulous.

"It can't be that hard," Carey added, rolling his eyes," we came southward, and we are farther north than before."

"And that's where I'm heading," Master Chief declared," I wont stop you if you want to follow."

"Hold on a second," Mark ran just ahead of the Spartan, huffed by the chiefs words," I don't know what sort of ideals your alien world and culture has, but this is our war, and if anyone is going to be following anyone, it will be you, following me. Clear?" Mark growled to a currently stopped chief. The Spartan, looking down on the normal sized figure, let his lip twitch in a smile.

"Lead the way then, Local."


The inside of the inner city Museum rattled. The many statues and models of figures and great historical happenings all stood still in the estimate of time and decay. Dust drifted around casually, wafting and floating at ease. The rattle was joined by a boom. A door was crept open, and one moment later, six men crept inside the room as quickly and quietly as possible. The youngest at the rear, they were able to get nearly half way into the room before taking cover as the door, along with half of the wall, was destroyed.

The Berserker was huge. Standing almost ten feet tall, the huge, violent, and almost blind Locust sniffed the air, waving its proportionately small head around. The skin seemed to shine in the air, naturally thick and metallic. Growling in frustration, or perhaps hoping to flush her prey out, it lumbered about, still looking about, waving its head around. Marcus, next to Cole and Frank, glanced back from behind a case displaying early designs for helicopters. He spotted the beast still by the door, but getting closer to Dom and Baird.

Marcus noticed, with a sense of drawing panic, that Eric had begun to creep away from Baird; shifting away from them and closer to the door. This would have been fine, only the stranded was keeping his eyes only on the Berserker, and broken glass was scattered behind him. Cutting himself could let him gasp or shout…

Marcus waved to Dom and Baird, pointing behind them. Baird, who squinted at him and mouthed "What the hell?" failed to grasp his flails. Dom however turned, and too spotted the possible incoming trouble. In what could have been luck, panic, or a strike of genius, he picked up a piece of rock, and threw it at a glass display case behind the Berserker, in the corner of the room. While the Glass did not shatter, the piece of rubble rebounded and caught the Berserkers attention. It spun quickly, and lunged for the source of noise. Finding the display case, it began to smash it again and again with its fists, wrecking the panel of some famous political speech.

The noise was perfect. All six were able to move for the time being quicker without worry of much noise. They raced through the hallway at the end of the room and into the final chamber.

"Come on, come on," Dom chanted as he approached the door. Placing his hand against the exit, he pushed, and got no where," shit!"

"What? Just get jack to rip it-" Baird started.

"The Berserker would totally find us if we got Jack-" Marcus started. Cole shoved him and Dom back a moment, turned to the door and placed a powerful kick against the center of the two thick doors. While they bended back slightly from the force, all they really produced was an echoing bang.

"Oh shit," Cole hissed, torn between apologizing and shutting up; the Berserker had heard, and was moving now closer to the hallway.

"I don't think we're getting through this without its help," Marcus admitted.

"It's not just going to come over here and hold the door open for us!" Eric hissed, the Berserker now in the hallway, looking oddly cramped as it tracked the source of the sound.

"Oh yes it is," Marcus growled, lifting his gun," when I say now, jump aside. Until then, make noise!" He took aim and fired at the Berserker.

"WHAT ARE YOU-" Frank roared, only to cover his mouth, watching Marcus shoot more and more at the increasingly angering Berserker," you are pissing it off!" he hissed, almost in his face, but unwilling to push the gun out of the Sergeants hands.

"EXACTLY!" Marcus roared. The massive creature finally dig itself out of the hallway, breaking the frame as it exited. It bellowed that terrible cry and charged, footsteps rocking the once polished ground. Each second they watched as it got closer and closer. "Okay… okay," Marcus timed, lowering the gun," NOW!" he roared as he rolled aside not a second too late. The Berserk hardly noticed the change, smashing through the thick metal door and into the outside. As the Gears stood back up, they heard a sudden shriek and cry, followed by a loud rumble.

"Oh shit!" Cole repressed a laugh," the bitch fell down the stairs!"

"Classic," Dom agreed, peering through the now open doorway. The back entrance, or public entrance, had a tall set of stairs that welcomed guests to the humble and majestic museum. Only for the Berserker it served as a sudden drop in the ground level, as she had fallen and smashed half of the already bruised concrete.

"Cole, get the Hammer of Dawn on the bitch now!" Marcus stated quietly," once she's lit up, shoot at her with everything you got," he stated to Eric and Frank, who were eager to leave the building from hell," go!" he ordered firmly. They all darted out, discovering the Berserker on her back, uncertain of how she had ended up looking at the sky. Cole however waited for nothing, pulling out the handheld device, pointed it at her face, and lit the laser. The beeps from the Hammer of Dawn laser pointer were loud enough to be heard by the Berserker, who screamed and thrashed around, aggravated by the sudden noise, or possibly knowing of the doom coming to her.

Four small points of light appeared around the Locust bull. Even from the stairs the humans felt the heat coming from the lasers. As soon as they had appeared, they moved closer and closer, focusing on the Berserker.

"Cook that bitches ass!" Cole roared to the firing of the Hammer of Dawn particle energy weapon. A huge burst of light and heat fell from the sky itself, smashing into the helpless Berserker, who screamed loudest, her skin melting and catching fire.

"Kill it! Shoot!" Baird reminded the Stranded as he, along with Marcus and Dom, began to open fire. Bullet after bullet ripped off melting flesh, tearing into the once invincible Berserker, now made helpless before the Hammer of Dawn and six humans. The light vanished, but the Berserker, glowing orange remained, feebly trying to move her arms. The side of its body had been ripped partially, exposing vulnerable flesh that had been singed and cooked by the intense heat. It was dying.

"We got this cunt all right," Baird nodded as he descended the stairs.

"You sure about that?" Marcus asked. He was sure they had indeed finished the Berserker, but his instincts warned him not to approach anything that lived after being hit by that much direct fire.

"Yeah, we're good!" Dom had approached as well, keeping his gun level as the Berserker fell limp. "Just as gross as I remember them smelling."

"Could have been worse," Marcus stated as he started down the nearly shattered stairs, the stranded just ahead of him.

"Just lucky to have more guns on your side?" Eric asked, smiling proudly to have done his part.

"You could say that," Marcus nodded.

"Yeah, nice job everyone, good job killing the Berserker," Baird started, his sarcasm dripping with each word," why don't we get moving before more Locust show up with two Berserkers? Or a Brumak?"

"Baird, quit your bitching," Marcus growled as he walked past the smoking remains, the wind picking up the ashes.

"What? I'm not bitching! I'm not! I just want to get moving before they-"

"So, what's our next move?" Dom asked to Marcus, moving over to talk over Bairds insistent babble.

"Well," Marcus turned to face the two teenagers, examining the body," if our guides are ready to move…" he stated loudly. Just as Eric turned to him, Marcus held a hand to his nose instinctively," oh shit- Baird, was that you?"

"What?"

"Seeders," Eric smiled as he stood up," you get used to that shit after you live this close to them."

"You're going to tell us where they are, or are you going to brag that you live with stuff that stinks like my ass?" Baird demanded hurriedly.

"Oh come on man," Dom started, sounding sympathetic," I don't think this smells nearly as bad as your ass."

"Yeah, we'll get you guys there, as long as you don't do anything stupid," Frank insisted, directing some aggression towards Baird.

"What's the word then?" Cole asked, satisfied with the two, walking over and patting them on the shoulder.

"North, due north," Eric stated again.

"Then north it is," Marcus nodded for them to lead, reloading his rifle absentmindedly.


Woot woot! Chapter three is done! The groups are gathering, and Berserkers are getting fried, and Baird is getting handed his rank old ass. (sniffs) just like old times…

Speaking of old times, June was the third year anniversary of Men of War! So a late Happy Anniversary to all those who have stuck around to see this become a great story! I can't believe I've been writing for more than four years… no, men of war wasn't my first story- I deleted my crappy first version of Hellsing War Chronicles and the newest is in its place. YAY! I FEEL OLD! XD

(spots several cups on the desk, next to the computer) Hey… one of these must be the Holy Grail! (looks over several, including one with the words "J.C." on the side, and spots one made of gold) SWEET! (drinks from it, and begins to rapidly rot) Gaw… at least I can be a member of the forsaken from World of Warcraft- (explodes into dust)