Hey guys.
Let me just start by saying a big thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far. Nearly 70 reviews and I'm only just finishing chapter six! I'm so grateful for the reviews! They really keep me going and inspire confidence.You guys are just so amazing. I'm really grateful for the support.
Sorry this chapter has taken so long. I had a lot of trouble with it *Slams face on keyboard* so it's a wee bit choppy but it's the best I can do. I'm more looking forward to writing chapter seven more than anything else. I blame the delay for this chapter on The Sims 3. Damn that addictive game. It's the kind you're ashamed to play.
Cupcakes (Because cookies aren't as cool) to anyone who picks up the Dragon Age reference.
"A Grievous Redemption" by Jord (A fantastic take on what could/have happened for GoW 3)
"A Time to Remember" by JeanDaBean (Adventures from Dom's perspective while Marcus is in prison. Features William Anderson, Jennifer's brother.)
" Port Farral" by Septembertopia (Set after the events of GoW 2 with an OC squad. A fantastic start so far and worth a read.)
"Moments" by Ryssa1457 (For any Carmine [A or B] fan)
"Pieces" by Ryssa1457 (Because Ben Carmine needs love too)
"Edge of Defence" by Jiodore (An excellent story about Cole and Baird)
"Gears of War: Hidden Desires (It's a really interesting concept that I'd like to see develop)
"Gears of War: Deployable Weapon (An surprising little gem of a story. Very well written with some lovely little surprises)
"Gears of War: Hope Runs Deep" by Sarazz Prime (Written by one of the best GoW action writers on the site)
"Gears of War: Dog of War" by LoboDiabloLoneWolf (Awesomeness in digital format.)
"Things We Never Said" by gnarled (Okay, it's a one shot but lovely Marcus/Anya luff all the same)
"Snowblind" by JonesyBites (Probably some of the best Baird characterisation that you could hope to see)
Thank you as always to Judge Magister Fermus for listening to me talk about this fic and letting me bounce ideas off him. Without him, it would never exist. Forever grateful bro.
Gears of War 2: Crimson Cross
Chapter Six: Revelations 21:6
"I'm a soldier, born to stand
In this waking hell I am
witnessing more than I can compute
Pray myself we don't forget
Lies, betrayed and the oppressed
Please give me the strength to be the truth"
Yoko Kanno feat. Origa - "Rise"
COG Serial Number: PV-B.C.831-862-203-088
Current Time: 17:02
Current Location:Locust Hollow
There was a reason that Delta squad was so exclusive and down in the tunnels of the Locust Hollow, Ben Carmine finally understood why. Marcus Fenix rode Delta hard; harder than any other squad leader Ben had known in the two years he had been part of the COG army. Each time Delta slowed their pace, Sergeant Fenix would crack his metaphorical whip at them and get the soldiers moving again. They grumbled – or rather the Latino grumbled - but obeyed their squad leader. Ben figured that Delta's leader was just anxious to get the mission over with as quickly as possible. He couldn't blame him but it did not make the unrelenting march through the Locust Hollow any easier. The hours just seemed to blend together to the point where Ben stopped believing the tiny clock on his HUD. His sore shoulder ached and itched and the sweat dripped down his neck but he refused to fall behind. He was determined to prove his rocks to Delta squad.
Besides, the brutal pace distracted Ben from the deaths of Echo Five. He had seen each one of them gunned down before his very eyes, their lives extinguished as easily as a torch. Ben tried hard not to remember the nausea he had felt in his gut, the indescribable fear of knowing that he would be next.
A chill cantered down his spine and Ben looked on ahead toward the rest of his squad, as if to reassure himself that they were actually alive. Sergeant Fenix lead them forward through the darkness, his blue eyes so piercing that Ben was sure that the grizzled sergeant could see right through the void black shadows. Dominic Santiago – the seasoned commando – kept to the sides, checking for any hidden routes or shortcuts in the Locust tunnels. Twice they had changed direction and taken a short cut to avoid unnecessary confrontations with the enemy forces. Ben had thought it would have been better to engage the enemy while they had the element of surprise but Sergeant Fenix said otherwise so Ben followed his orders without complaint.
After all, Sergeant Fenix was always right about such matters. Ben trusted his judgement above all else.
Jennifer Anderson, however, was the only one who was struggling to keep up with Sergeant Fenix's hard march. She slipped and fell at least a dozen times throughout the trek. To her credit, the little medic did not complain once but just seemed to get slower and slower until the point where she was stumbling on her feet. Ben had gone back to help her twice.
Dom looked back towards the exhausted medic and frowned. Ben saw his uneasiness, even a good ten metres away. He always seemed to be the one watching over them both in an almost parental manner. Ben knew that the Sergeant cared in his own unique way. He had only seen the emotion glimmer through a handful times but it was certainly there. He never disclosed it in words, just little looks and twitches in his facial muscles. The commando however was a touch more open than the gruff sergeant. "Marcus, I think we should stop for a minute." It did not sound like a suggestion or request; it sounded more like an order to Ben's helmet clad ears.
Sergeant Fenix halted and swivelled his mad-dog eyes towards his fatigued squad. They paused on Anderson for a moment. The permanent dents in his forehead softened slightly and he gave a low grumble. "Alright Delta. Take five."
Anderson practically collapsed the minute the words left the Sergeant's mouth. She just dropped like a little rock into her plated knees and curled up on her side; a sheen of sweat collected on her pale forehead. Ben followed suit, flopping down next to her in the dirt and dust. He fumbled with the straps and removed his helmet to wipe the dampness from his brow. He turned to look at Anderson. The raven haired girl had been near enough silent since the incident with Echo Five. True, they had all been quite quiet but Anderson had been wordless. Dom had attempted some conversation with her, trying to sooth her restless conscience with some practiced words but Anderson had jammed up tighter than a South Island clam.
So Ben had a go. He always seemed to have better luck with her. "You okay Anderson?"
Anderson blinked up at him and suddenly, Ben felt very stupid indeed. Of course she was not okay. It was a stupid question on his part.
"I don't know. I just keep thinking of Jamieson...How he looked when he died. It just won't go away." The female let out a sound that was a cross between a hiccup and a sob, as if she were trying to stop herself from crying again. It made Ben's stomach clench. He reached out and placed a hand on her shuddering shoulder. Anderson stilled almost immediately beneath his palm. "Hey, hey. Don't keep thinking about stuff like that. It will tear you up. You know it wasn't your fault."
"I know but I just can't help it...there must have been something more I could have done..." she trailed off, seemingly lost for words. Which happened often Ben had observed.
He looked to her curiously, his eyes drawn to the medic symbol printed upon her white chest plate. The red cross and cog logo was the only ounce of colour on Anderson's tiny form and more often than not, it drew Ben's attention. He liked bright colours. "Didn't you ever lose anyone in the hospital?" Ben asked. It seemed strange to him that the death of a fellow soldier would affected the medic so much. He had assumed that she would have been used to people dying in her hands. Did that not come with the territory?
The medic shook her head. The little black locks had hardened with the blood of the fallen squad and stuck up in unnatural little spikes. "I never worked in Accident and Emergency." Her gloved hands – barely large enough to hold a pistol – clenched against the ground. Ben was amazed at how little they were and remembered how easily they had weaved through his shoulder muscles to pull out a bullet.
He was curious to know what else they could do.
Ben swallowed – his throat suddenly and unspeakably dry. "How come you weren't in A and E?" he asked, trying to distract himself from wondering what Anderson's hands would have felt like without the confines of COG army gloves.
And he failed.
Miserably.
Ben had never been very good with girls. He had met so very few of them, and the ones he had were very scary indeed. Some of them he could not tell that they were even female. Jennifer Anderson wasn't like them at all. She was cute and – as he had noticed – was very obviously female. Ben had no clue what to say or what to do. Long ago, the older Carmine brother Clay had sat both him and Anthony down and given them "The Talk". Ben remembered with embarrassing agony every word of that conversation and promised never to act in such a brainless manner. He wouldn't a girl get him distracted.
Only now, Ben was finding it difficult to find the will power to keep that promise. Or even concentrate on anything other than the little medic.
Anderson, blissfully unaware of his inner turmoil, answered him. "I wasn't ready for it. They probably thought I couldn't handle people dying on me. Which I can't. I'm an awful medic," she said with a deflated expression swiftly adorning her doll-like face. For a second, Ben had felt compelled to pull her into a tight embrace and make the expression go away. He reined back the urge back before the lesser part of his brain had acted on it. Ben was sure that Sergeant Fenix would have had something to say if he were caught clinging to medic like a little monkey.
"That's not true. You saved my life remember?" Ben's shoulder certainly remembered for it gave a painful throb underneath his bulky armour just for good measure.
"Yeah...that's right. How is your shoulder feeling now?" Anderson asked, her eyes combing over the puncture in his armour.
The youngest Carmine brother reached a hand up and rubbed his shoulder. "It's a bit itchy but I think will be okay for a while," he lied. It hurt like hell and he still felt the occasional reel from the blood loss, despite the packet Anderson had given him.
Anderson looked up at him with a crinkled brow, wearing a frown.
"Can I have a look at it? A proper look?"
Ben hesitated. It would mean that he would have to remove his armour –even his thermal layer - for Anderson to examine his itching wound properly.
And the very thought of it terrified the young soldier.
"No really, I'm fine," Ben insisted, holding up his hands as if he was trying to reason with a Berserker. It was then that he noticed just how hot his armour had become, how sticky his palms had become under metal and fabric.
Anderson blinked at him; her navy blue eyes very large behind her thick lenses. Her mouth was parted slightly and she looked at him in a pleading manner that almost broke Ben's resolve. What made it all the worse is that she had no idea exactly what she was doing to him. Ben barely understood it himself. He had known the medic for little more than a day but he felt as if he had known her his entire life. The feeling left him with the impulse to protect her from harm and he was not really sure why.
"Please Carmine, it would really help me if I could just have a little look to make sure everything's okay. I don't want anything bad to happen to you."
The rookie swallowed again and was suddenly aware at just how just how close the little medic was to him. Despite the groans and moans the Hollow seemed to make – along with the distant gunfire – Ben clearly heard the feather light breathing of Anderson. His own breath hitched at notch and suddenly, he wanted nothing more than to run in the opposite direction and get away from all the new feelings that she was stirring up.
Thankfully, fate threw him a bone in the shape of Sergeant Fenix. The squad leader was rousing a tired Delta back to their feet. "Right guys. Let's get moving again." Ben jumped at the escape route and leapt to his feet as if his backside had been on fire. He cast a glance towards the medic and felt his stomach tighten again. Ben could see concern and defeat clearly painted across her face.
"You two! Hurry up!" Sergeant Fenix shouted over at them, clearly getting impatient with the delays.
"You heard the Sarge, come on Anderson. You can check it later. Scouts honour." He made the sloppy scout gesture then fought his helmet back onto his head. Ben had not been a boy scout for very long time but that hardly deterred him. He held out a gloved hand towards the little medic. She looked at him then gave a real, soft smile that made Ben's legs shake. She slipped a tiny hand in between his and Ben gently pulled the female onto her feet. Anderson's grip stayed tightly in his and Ben felt himself squeeze her hand gently.
She squeezed back, her cheeks an adorable dusty pink that he loved saying. The gentle little smile still adorned her doll-like features. He was glad his ears were covered by his COG issued helmet for they were hot and red under the metal.
"You ready?" the rookie asked.
"Not really."
Ben smiled beneath his helmet. "Neither am I." Together, they caught up with the rest of Delta squad before the Sergeant decided to leave them there for good.
Considering how hard Sergeant Fenix was pushing them, it did not sound like an entirely bad idea.
He wouldn't have minded being left alone with Anderson.
COG Serial Number: SG-M.F.101-010-174-656
Current Time: 17:16
Current Location: Locust Hollow, 300 metres below surface.
"One thing I still don't understand. Have the Locust been down here, like, forever or what?"
Marcus was not surprised when the Rookie gear cracked the silence again. He just never seemed to shut up. Even exhausted, Carmine still attempted to make conversation with his fellow Gears; usually over something trivial or irrelevant but Delta's leader just let him blabber away for the most part. It was probably just nerves that were getting to the youngest squad member. Carmine had shown a unique tendency to babble a lot when he was nervous. Marcus could not blame him. The further Delta pressed into the Locust Hollow, the more nightmarish their surrounding became. Dark roots closed in from every side, thicker and stronger than steel. A few pools of dark blue water – swimming with bones and other grisly pieces of organic matter - cut off many of their paths. Marcus barked out an order not to touch them and the squad were quick to obey. Something that looked like worms flickered beneath the surface of the black ponds but Marcus did not want to think about them too much.
"Who knows man," Dom remarked, stepping gingerly through a pond of glowing vegetation behind the squad leader. The Latino looked as if he expected something horrid to leapt out of the water at him.
"This one guy in basic, he thought they were from Risea or one of the moons, and they feed on Imulsion."
Dom gave a snort of amusement. "Hey Marcus, ever seen them eating Imulsion?"
"They can eat crap and die for all I care," Marcus answered plainly as he waded through the swallow puddle; the water seeping in through the holes in his boots and drenching his socks. He ignored this particular discomfort for his mind was far elsewhere. He heard the grumbling, almost hungry growl of something close. Something very close. It echoed down the tunnel and chilled the marrow in Marcus's bones.
"Delta. Shut up a second."
The squad fell silent and halted, their collective ears straining.
Then, they too heard the ever increasing growl of something not entirely human.
"Guys, what am I hearing?" asked the rookie gear.
"It sounds hungry...Really hungry," stated Anderson, looking terrified as per usual. "Oh, I don't want to be eaten."
Despite the situation, Marcus resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
"If it's close enough to eat you, it's close enough for a shot to the face," the sergeant growled before gesturing his squad forward with the swipe of his gloved hand. He could roughly make out a dim orange light out at the end of the tunnel and Delta forward.
Slowly and cautiously, the squad crept forward into the light and were highly surprised to find the burning torch at the foot of a set of dusty stone steps that lead up towards a structure craved into the natural rock formation. Marcus was stunned to say the least. So far, he had seen nothing that indicated that the Locust were an intelligent form of life but the evidence in front of him dictated otherwise. Even from his present position, the Sergeant could clearly make out the intricate details of the Locust structure. The building was quite grand, made from polished stone archways and indented with complex, almost celtic designs that must have taken many hours to complete. It put the squad leader in mind of a medieval castle and Marcus could not help but admire it briefly.
"I think it's safe to say that is not a natural cave formation," Dom stated rather unnecessarily.
"You were wondering where they came from Carmine?" Marcus remarked as Delta crept forward cautiously. Marcus looked up and could clearly see long gangly figure drifting through the archways of the Locust outpost like a phantom or ghost. Brown, leathery robes followed out behind in its wake; rustling softly against the concrete and stone. The remainder of the creature's body was adorned in a mixture of almost regal armour and a crown-like helmet. It seemed to carry itself with such dignity that it made Marcus's trigger finger pause for a moment.
When it spotted the crouched humans, it gave out a shriek that was similar to the one that had appeared on the decking of Rig 314. It let out several loud, high pitched screams that left Marcus's eardrums ringing with sharp throbs of pain. A door to the right of the Locust outpost opened up and a wave of Drones rushed out into Delta's line of fire. Marcus instinctively raised the rifle and squeezed the trigger of his Lancer, empting three waves of hot lead into the offending Locust soldiers.
"What are these guys?" Dom shouted out over general confusion and gunfire.
"I don't care. Just shut 'em up!" Marcus hollered back, trying to keep Carmine covered while the rookie took shots at the shrieking Locust. A Drone fired in the sergeant's general direction and a bullet struck Marcus's armour hard with an audible thump. The squad leader hissed and slid back down into cover. Marcus groped his chest plate, looking for a wound as he could not feel one. Perhaps he had been so critically injured that his brain had blocked out the pain completely. It had happened more than once to him.
Mercifully, it appeared that the bullet had not penetrated his armour and had become lodged in between the metal and padding that pinched his skin when he moved.
"Incoming Grenade!" exclaimed Dom.
Marcus looked up. True enough, a grenade that had never before been seen sailed through the air and struck hard right next to the squad leader. Before he could even think about moving, the little clamp-like grenade erupted into a thick, haze of greenish black gas had engulfed Marcus's position. The smoke stung his eyes and left his lungs feeling as if they had been set on fire. They burned so fiercely he was sure that they were about to explode at any second.
"Marcus! Over here!" shouted Dom as he ripped open the belly of a Grenadier with his barking Lancer.
Taking a leap of faith, the squad leader blindly rolled out of the murky cloud and towards what he hoped with the general direction of Dom. Marcus crunched into the stone cover with enough force to leave a bruise, blue eyes weeping from the poisonous smoke.
"Get...that screaming thing...It's...throwing ink grenades!" choked out a watery eyed Marcus. He inhaled deeply, trying to fill his lungs with cold oxygen to dose the burning sensation underneath his chest. Though he was in clean air, he still hacked and coughed harshly.
"I'm trying! Bastard won't hold still," shouted Carmine from ten paces away. He was right. The gangly Locust was leaping and rolling with incredible speed that Marcus's eyes could barely keep up with him. The rookie gear had his Longshot propped on the stone wall and was attempting to line up a killing shot on the dancing creature. Marcus – though he was still wheezing – popped back up from behind the granite cover and emptied a clip of Lancer ammo into a Drone that had been aiming for Carmine, trying to give the rookie valuable seconds he needed. The rookie was incredible with the Longshot, considering his age and his little experience. He could make shots that Marcus was sure he would miss. If anyone could pop the head of the screaming grub, the sergeant was certain it was Carmine.
Then suddenly, a rounded bullet from a Hammerburst struck the rookie's rifle and knocked it clean out of his gloved hands. The Longshot sailed through the air and landed with a cloud of dust at the booted feet of Anderson. Through the general confusion of the battlefield, Marcus had completely forgotten that she was present. And with good reason too. She had been hiding behind a great chunk of rock the entire time, squeaking every time the ping of a bullet struck close to her cover.
Anderson scrabbled for the scoped rifle and pulled it close to her chest as if it were some kind of treasured possession. Had he not been under heavy gunfire, Marcus would have laughed the very sight. The Longshot was practically half Anderson's body length and she looked so comical clutching it to her tiny body.
Blue eyes swivelled to the leaping Locust. The medic had a clear line of fire at a perfect angle. Nearly every other Locust on the battlefield was engaged with the rest of the Delta squad. It would only take one clean shot to put the creature down for good. Marcus was sure that not even Jennifer Anderson could miss such a perfect shot.
"Kill that yelling Locust Anderson!"
The female fumbled with the breech, fear making her fingers clumsy. "It's out of ammo Sergeant," she cried.
Marcus cursed his bad luck. How typical that Carmine had not had a chance to reload before the Locust knocked the weapon from his unsuspecting hands.
"Anderson! Catch!" Carmine had bravely stood up from cover to toss a cartridge of Longshot ammo towards the medic. With wide glassy eyes, Anderson missed the easy throw and awkwardly dropped the cartridge twice with panic. Her gloved fingertips fumbled with the clipped lid and Marcus was more than attempted to get up out of his cover, march over and reload the rifle for her. She raised the weapon, arms visibly shaking under the weight of the seven kilogram rifle.
"C'mon! Take the damn shot!" Marcus shouted with steadily mounting distress as he exterminated the last Locust Drone that had been gunning in the direction of the medic. The second that the body hit the floor, the Locust stopped rolling around the battlefield and begun chanting in loud hisses. Papery skin glowed yellowish white and lit up the entire area surrounding the creature. Marcus was not entirely sure what he was witnessing but he was sure that it would not bode well for his squad.
Dom was the first to notice something was wrong. "Marcus! I think it's doing something to those dead Locust."
The squad leader stared with disbelief as the previously dead bodies of the Locust Drones also began to glow yellow. Two of them writhed on the ground as if some unknown force was funnelling electricity into their lifeless bodies. Their limbs twisted and jerked out at angles that were sickening, disturbing and fascinating all at the same time. Marcus tore his eyes away from the impossible madness.
"Kill it Anderson! Do it now!"
Anderson screwed up her face and pulled the trigger.
Boom!
Crack!
The echo of bones shattering was unmistakeable. Marcus knew that sound very well. When one knew it was his enemy, it was a truly satisfying sound. Nothing could have been sweeter to the squad leader. Marcus looked up towards the once leaping Locust and just managed to catch the sight of it swinging backwards like a felled tree. The bodies of the Locust Drones went still and lifeless – just the way Marcus liked them. He cast his blue eyed gaze onto the female and astonishment mirrored right back at him. The rest of Delta squad were staring at her with something close to disbelief as well and suddenly, Anderson dropped as if it were red hot.
Carmine was the first to break the stunned silence. "Whoa! That looked like a headshot to me."
"Puts the Lucky in 'lucky shot'" added Dom, wiping his damp brow with the palm of his hand.
The little medic gave a smile that was weaker than Baird's tea.
Marcus picked himself up out of cover and dusted off his armour. Delta's attention snapped to his movement. "Better make sure it's dead huh?" Cautiously, he crossed the bullet dusted battlefield to survey the dead body at his booted feet. Under the watchful eye of Delta, Marcus gave the body a hard kick to the gut. Hard enough to crack a rib or two at least. When it ceased to stir, Marcus crouched down, blue eyes darting up and down the Locust remains. His gaze paused on what was once the head of the deceased Locust. There was very little left, just a rather juicy piece of mangled flesh that looked like a popped balloon. The squad leader had to admit that he was impressed. It was a perfect shot, even Lady Luck had obvious given the bullet a good kiss beforehand.
He stood up. "Jack, scan these bodies. Looks likes there is some kind of markings."
The geobot blinked out of his cloaking field and complied with the squad leaders orders. A thin beam of blue light no bigger than a pinhead scanned over the body over the creature and captured the strange indentations on the body. He stored the data into his vast memory banks to be sent off to Control at the earliest convenience.
Once the robot had finished the task, Marcus moved his squad on. "Right, let's move out Delta." Marcus gestured the squad forward through the impressive steel doors. They followed him through dimly lit Locust passages, pausing every so often to admire the Locust architecture as they trekked through the outpost. Their eyes met patterns of thick squares and geometrical designs that probably formed letters or words. They were beautiful to look at. Delta were awestruck and Anderson had actually stopped to run her gloved fingertips across the indented stone, her eyes wide with curiosity and utter joy. It was the first time that Marcus had ever seen her properly happy. He was sure she probably would have stood there all day working out the runes had he not growled her back into place.
"Careful Delta, we don't know what we'll find in here," he warned, moving carefully through the Locust corridors. It was suspiciously quiet, a touch too quiet considering the fact that Delta had just broken in. Though he could not see anything, the sergeant could not shake the sensation of what felt like a thousand eyes trained upon him. The squad leader took to the shadows and was always the first one to go around a darkened corner.
Marcus paused for a moment and signalled his squad to do the same. Delta had come to a fork in the road; one path accessed by a ladder while the other was through a set of huge, steel doors. "I don't see any movement up ahead but let's split up and get the drop on anyone who's there." He turned to face his squad. "Dom, take Anderson and go up the left side. Carmine, you're with me."
The Latino nodded. "Alright man. Let's go Anderson," Dom said as he headed towards the ladder. The female bit her lip in slight hesitation, staring at the sergeant with nervous eyes. Marcus frowned and narrowed his pale blue eyes at Anderson in just the right away, like a parent would to a child. She got the message quickly enough and stumbled off after Dom.
Marcus turned his attention back to the rookie gear. "Right, move out Rook."
Carmine stared after Anderson for a moment longer before he dropped into place beside Marcus. Marcus brought his steel blue stare onto the rookie. The squad leader could not ignore the way that he acting towards Anderson. He had always known that the rookie was attached to the medic but he had not been aware of how much their connection had deepened in such a short space of time. Marcus could sense it. The soldier within told him that they could not afford such distractions, that Anderson or Carmine could easily perish within the Hollow. He knew he should have taken Carmine aside and given him a lecture about squad fraternisation.
But he didn't.
He simply settled for a friendly warning. Marcus knew it was not their fault. They were just kids – the pair of them. Carmine especially. The young rookie – like so many others – had been pumped full of growth and stamina hormones just to survive. Gods knew what it must have been doing to them mentally and physically.
Marcus watched and waited until the newly formed Delta Two had disappeared through the tunnel completely before he looked to the young Gear. Sometimes Marcus wished that the Carmine did not wear a helmet. He would have been so much easier to read without it. The kid hid his expressions and fear behind a mask of steel.
"Rook?"
"Yeah Sarge?" answered Carmine, sounding chipper as per usual. Nothing seemed to dampen his spirits.
"Listen, about Anderson..." For a moment, Marcus had no idea what to say. There was very little he could say.
Carmine carried on walking a steady pace next to the squad leader. "Yeah? What about Anderson? She's nice isn't she?"
"Just...Be careful with her alright?" Marcus did not how else to word his warning.
"She's my friend Sarge. Don't worry, I'll look after her. I won't let anything bad happen to her." Carmine insisted, missing the point entirely.
Marcus focused on his steely eyed stare squarely on a Locust tile on the ceiling. The bare faced truth was complicated. "That's what I'm worried about," he murmured to himself rather than the young gear before they continued down the darkened corridor, the shadows ready to swallow them up whole.
COG Serial Number: PV-J.A.010-101-011-992
Current Time: 17:56
Current Location: Locust Hollow, 300 metres below surface
"We haven't really had a chance to talk since you joined Delta have we?" Dom remarked as they passed through yet another Locust archway. The rest of Delta travelled the path below them, cutting through the shadows while Dom and Jennifer travelled on the left hand side.
Jennifer jumped at the sudden fracture in the comfortable silence. "Not really Dom...uh I mean Corporal Santiago. Sir." Her tongue knotted nervously inside her mouth. She was not used to speaking to Dom on a one-on-one conversation and had no idea how to respond.
"Whoa, calm down Anderson. It's just Dom okay? Sir makes me feel too old." He gave her a smile that managed to quell her anxiousness
Jennifer managed to return one. "Okay Dom."
Appearing satisfied, Dom turned his full attention back to the Locust pathway and led her through the corridors with such apparent ease as if he had been navigating them his entire life. The female looked around at the architecture, her mouth slightly agar with a rather unladylike fashion. She stopped again to run her fingers across a rectangle of stone upon the Locust walls. The dents formed into broken words and phrases that were familiar to her. Everything Jennifer had learnt about the Locust language had come from reports and files from Corporal Baird and he very rarely made mistakes so she trusted in his translations. She was dimly aware of the fact that Sergeant Fenix had told her off already for lingering behind and that she was indeed supposed to be marching through the tunnels but prospect of examining the Locust carvings was too good to pass up. Translating them made her feel useful for once, made her feel valued.
The commando suddenly appeared at her side and Jennifer could not help but tense up. She fully prepared herself for another scolding.
But Dom – who was apparently packed with more surprises than a magician – simply placed a hand on the rocky dents. His dark eyes scanned over them briefly.
"What do they say?" he asked, sounding genuinely interested.
Jennifer looked back to the flat rock and milky marble. She reached up to trace the thick ruins, trying to spell them out inside her head. "Some of them...they tell stories about the Locust...Worms...Gold lifeblood...Oh and something about... Judgement day."
"Judgement day huh?" Dom said with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, I can't make out the rest very well. Corporal Baird would have a better understanding of it I think."
"Maybe a recon team will come down here later and get some tracings. Right now, we should probably get moving or we'll fall behind Marcus and Carmine."
The medic gave an eager nod. She was anxious to be reunited with the remainder of the squad. She had grown accustomed to their presence and without the rest of the squad, she felt very alone. "Right." Jennifer dropped into place beside him and followed him down another Locust corridor. For the most part, the ghoulish surroundings had vanished. The floor beneath her booted feet was smooth and there were no signs of the black water that she had come to fear. Jennifer was surprised at just how neat and tidy the Locust outpost was. The female had been expecting bodies and blood everywhere but saw neither apart from the ones Delta left at the front door. Apart from a few mine carts and dark steel boxes, there was very little out of the ordinary.
And it was too quiet. Jennifer was somewhat unnerved that the silence of it all. She looked to Dom. If he were as unnerved as she, he did not seem to show it.
He was unnerved enough to talk up another conversation with her. "So, what's up you and Carmine?"
Jennifer almost stopped dead but caught herself just in time. A red flush appeared on her cheeks at the very mention of the rookie's name. She had not been aware that the rest of the squad had noticed. The medic gave herself a little shake, frowning to herself. Of course they had noticed. Gear squads were always looking out for each other. She was foolish to even entertain the idea that they would not have noticed her increasingly growing attraction to Ben Carmine. She could not quite fathom it herself. She didn't know where it had come from either. Her feelings of affection had just sprouted up – quite literally – over night.
"Nothing up," Jennifer replied. She knew she did not sound the least bit convincing.
"Doesn't seem like nothing to me. Carmine is pretty taken with you." His tone held a smile that caused the medic's blush to deepen.
"W-we're just friends okay?" Jennifer did not know who she was trying to convince more, herself or Dom. Her thoughts about the rookie Gear were jumbled and she had no idea what to make of them.
Dom gave a laugh as he led her through another marble archway. "Yeah, sure you are."
Jennifer dipped her head, sure that her cheeks were bright enough to chase the shadows away.
It was not long before Delta Two arrived in a wide, open balcony that overlooked a wide area below. They could hear the loud bangs of a Troika turret being fired but neither of them could see one. "Dom, we're pinned by a Troika just below your position. Can you get that Rock worm moving for us so we can get across?" The sergeant buzzed in Jennifer's ear. The female nearly jumped right out of her skin. She almost forgot she was even wearing one. Jennifer looked to the ceiling and could see three or four of the glowing red fruit that they seen earlier. In the area below, Delta were crouched down out of the Troika's lead fire; completely pinned and unable to advance further. A snake of solid rock and flesh appropriately dubbed a Rock worm snorted in the dust, seemingly uninterested and indifferent to Delta's suffering. It was perfectly content to just nibble a patch of brown grass.
"I'm on it Marcus, hang tight," responded Dom. The Latino aimed his Lancer towards the ruby red orbs and a few well place shots had the fruit hitting the ground below with juicy little plops. They caught the creature's attention just as expected. Jennifer peered over the edge of her perch as the Rock Worm scuttled on forward to eat up each piece of glowing fruit. Delta crept forward under the cover of the rock clad snake, their heads bowed low to avoid the bullets of the turret. Jennifer's heart jammed in her throat as she stared down at Delta one from her perch. She did not like seeing Carmine in danger. She did not like seeing Sergeant Fenix in danger.
Suddenly, she heard a vicious snarl and Jennifer tore her gaze away from Delta One just in time to see Dom get dog pilled by four wretches that had appeared from a side door to the left. The Latino gave a yelp in surprise rather than pain as he unexpectedly hit the tiled ground beneath their feet. "Shit! Shit! Get off me!" Dom yelled as he forced the jaw of a Wretch from a bicep. Jennifer pushed off the ground onto her feet with every intention of helping Dom but fear made her sluggish and more clumsy than usual. She felt something whoosh by her booted feet and swiftly found herself on the ground as well.
With a snapping Wretch perched upon her chest plate.
Jennifer wanted to scream. She really did but complete fear and horror made her cry nothing more than a rasp and froze her limbs tight. In a strange out of body moment, Jennifer marvelled at just how many teeth a Wretch had. She had never seen one up close before. It was so close to her face that she could have easily counted each one of its razor sharp teeth. Open jaws hissed, caked with drool and other organic matter that Jennifer did not want to think about. The Wretch had white eyes that were dull like a stillborn calf and lacked any intelligence. It pawed at the white chest plate, scratching its long claws against the steel. It was almost sad that it was the last thing the medic would see before she was reduced to an unsightly stain upon the Locust's clean tiles.
Navy blue eyes clenched shut and Jennifer waited for the end that was surely to come.
But it never came.
Instead, the Wretch exploded all over her.
Jennifer felt the weight on her chest plate disappear. She opened her eyes and could see nothing but red. Blood was all over her glasses in thick, raspberry coloured globules. She could barely see in front of her. The girl reached up a hand up to clear her lenses but she only smeared them worse. She heard the sound of a shotgun being discharged several more times before it was cut off by silence.
Dom suddenly loomed over her. Jennifer could just barely make out his shape through her stained glasses. "Anderson? You okay?"
The medic nodded and managed to sit up despite her trembling limbs. "I think so. What just happened?"
"Pack of Wretches. Didn't see them coming," Dom replied.
Jennifer fished around the pocket of her belt for the piece of cloth she kept for cleaning her thick glasses and wiped off the blood from the outside of the lenses. Dom appeared properly in her vision, one large hand clamped over a bicep. Jennifer could see the blood leaking from between his fingers.
The girl stood up. "Please, let me have a look at that."
The Latino lifted his hand from his wound and gave a wince. A large bite mark stood out against his skin, the flesh torn and shredded around the edges. Ugly, thick trails of red snaked down his arm. Jennifer stared at the wound, not as repulsed as she thought she would have been. It would need stitches that much was for certain and she wondered briefly when he had last had a shot. Wretches carried more diseases in their mouths than an open sewer.
"When did you have a Tetanus shot last?"
"A few years ago now."
"You should be okay. I think you need stitches for this though." Jennifer placed a hand onto his arm and leaned in to examine the wound further. To her great relief, it did not appear as if any veins or arteries had been punctured, just the skin. She suspected it would not take very long to sew back together.
"Can't it wait?" Dom asked, sounding anxious.
Jennifer felt herself frown and looked back to the bite mark again. "No, I'd like to do this now. It will get infected if I don't and you could get sick," the medic explained, keeping surprisingly firm grip upon the Latino. "I can get it done really quickly if you let me do it now," she added quickly.
Dom dithered between the two options. "Okay then, if you really have to," he finally gave in.
The female let a hand drop from his arm and unclipped one of the many pockets from her belt that contained a supply of surgical tread and needle. She swiftly set to work, dabbing here and pressing there with a practiced gentleness that had painstakingly developed over the course of her three year medical training within the COG. Navy eyes focused on the wound, mentally tracing a stitch pattern and calculating how much thread would be required. Jennifer let her hands work, fairly certain that they knew what they had to do. It was the first time that day that they did not tremble. Dom barely even winced as she stuck the needle through his tore skin and gently pulled it back together. He just watched her movements with a lack of interest, as if he had been through it all before and knew exactly what to expect.
Jennifer's brow furrowed and subconsciously, the tip of her tongue stuck out between her lips in intense concentration. She was so caught up in her task that the medic did not notice the sudden change in Dom's facial expression.
"Wow." the Latino suddenly stated, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
The medic looked up, abruptly alarmed. She was so sure she had been doing everything right. "What? Is something wrong?" she asked, her inferiority complex rearing.
Dom shook his head. "No, nothing's wrong. You just looked like your brother for a moment."
She froze. "I did?"
"Yeah. I served with him once."
Jennifer felt as if she had just swallowed a mouthful of hot coal. "You did?"
"Yeah. Me and my squad mate Griggs were in trouble when he showed up out of the blue. Your brother was a pretty awesome guy." Dom paused then brought his eyes up to her face. Jennifer stared back, completely at a loss at what to say. Her hand froze in mid-stitch for a second before she caught herself. "I know," she replied, looking down at the wound.
"You look a lot like him. In fact, You're a spitting image of him. I'd peg you to be his sister."
The medic focused on keeping her voice steady. It was all she could so to prevent herself from bursting into tears. "I'm not. If I was his sister then I wouldn't be useless." Even to her own ears, the answer sounded pathetic.
The Latino raised an eyebrow, his expression suddenly unreadable. "Useless? Who put that crap in your head?"
She gave an audible gulp. Unbidden, an image of Damon Baird reared inside the medic's head and chilled her skin with goosebumps. Jennifer knew it was stupid but she could not help herself. She feared him more than she did Marcus Fenix. The Sergeant was simply frightening because he was so huge and imposing and spoke as if he was constantly annoyed. Corporal Baird was scary because he was so cruel, cutting and always succeeded in making the medic feel three inches tall. It was unfair to blame the blonde entirely, many others had commented on her skills – or rather lack off that she could probably recite them all but his comments stuck out above them all because they were all completely true. "Lots of people can't be wrong Dom," she answered, forcing her hands to work again.
Dom gave a snort. "Lots of people can be wrong kid. I think that's half your problem sometimes. You care too much about what other people say. Who gives a damn about what they say?"
Jennifer's throat went dry. How could she explain that she was the last of a proud military family that spanned back several generations? How could she explain that she had grown up listening to tales about her grandfather and father who had served in every war and that the same was expected of her? The Locust had scrubbed out everything else about her family except from their intense pride in their history.
Jennifer had to give a damn about what other people said. It was written in her genetic code. Her blood was as blue as her eyes. "You wouldn't understand."
"Try me."
The female gave a heavy sigh. "Everyone expects me to be just like William, just like my dad. Just like every other Anderson but I'm not. I'm nothing like them. I didn't fit in anywhere." She could not bear to look at the Latino in the face.
"Everyone says that about their family. We all feel like that at one point." Jennifer could tell from the tone of his voice that he was a stranger to such situations.
"My dad hated me. He told me that he would have had a DNA test done if I hadn't looked so much like him. He was certain that he wasn't my father," Jennifer explained. She knew it sounded cliché but she did not care in the slightest. It was the truth. Even nearly five years later, the memories were still vivid in her skull. The shame still made her skin prickle with heat. Her legs still trembled in his rage.
"Where was your brother in all this?" Dom's voice held an edge of disapproval.
"He was at War. He wouldn't have cared even if he was there. He was Dad's favourite after all. The poster boy for the COG after they tore down Sergeant Fenix," she responded, pulling the last thread on the Mattress Stitch. "He wasn't there when I needed."
"He cared for you Anderson. I know he did."
In a small act of bravery, Jennifer jerked her head up to meet his stare. She was surprised – though she knew she should not have been – to find Dom staring at her with a deep look of sincerity and hurt for her. Jennifer was dumbstruck. It was strange to see such an emotion being directed at squarely at her. The little medic was not used to such attention. "How do you know?"
The Latino was still for a moment and looked as if he wanted to say something else but he didn't. "I just do," he stated finally.
The medic's eyes narrowed in a rather uncharacteristic fashion but she said nothing in response back. She did not know Dom well enough to assume that he was lying.
After a few more moments of silence, the girl stepped back from the Latino to survey the stitching. "There, that should be okay for a little while." Jennifer was surprised with herself. The patch job had turned out better than she had anticipated.
Dom flexed his arm. "Not a bad patch job kid." He reached for the Lancer and slung it back over his shoulder along with the shotgun. "Right then Anderson, let's get going. Marcus is probably way ahead of us by now."
Jennifer gave a nod and followed on behind the Latino's mass right into the next open corridor.
And right into open pair dived into cover seconds before bullets peppered the space they had been previously occupying. Jennifer felt her heart stop then start again.
"You're late!" yelled Sergeant Fenix over the Tac/Com. Jennifer was amazed at just how loudly his voice dominated her skull. Somehow, he drowned out the barks of the heavy gunfire.
Dom crouched down beside Jennifer's ear. "Wait here and don't move until I tell you!" It was the last order Dom barked at her before Jennifer lost him in the battle.
Against all possible odds, Delta Two managed to work their way up the battlefield under the heavy cover of Sergeant Fenix and Carmine. Jennifer was not entirely sure how she managed to survive the hellish twenty minutes, only that she did and thanked whatever god that happened to be listening. She had crawled under the hiss of lead and listened when it pinged and thumped against her rocky cover. Dom shouted instructions to her and Jennifer obeyed each and every one. She was surprised at how quickly she had been able to move under fire. Jennifer had been deathly terrified but she did not stop. She trembled and shook and did not stop quivering even when Sergeant Fenix funnelled two clips into the last Boomer and had given the All Clear.
Jennifer watched from her cover as Sergeant Fenix gave the body of the Boomer a kick for good measure. "Everyone alright?" Sergeant Fenix did not even bother looking up, only pausing to reload his Lancer. It was as if he knew his squad would be alright but he was just going through the motions of asking.
"Yeah, I'm good Marcus."
"Me too Sarge." Dom and Carmine approached from the left after raiding the dead bodies for supplies. Humans could scavenge just as well as Locust when the situation called for it. Jennifer looked towards her commanding officer. The Sergeant was busy stripping another Locust that was sprawled out near a set of giant doors of a revolver. The Drone would not be needing it anymore. Sergeant Fenix then straightened up and turned to face Jennifer. He was an imposing sight with his Lancer dotted with blood and armour dappled with coppery speckles. He stared at her with his white blue eyes so startling that Jennifer was sure they could see right into her head. It was a struggle for the medic not to shrink back in fear as he walked towards her.
Sergeant Fenix paused by her side, dropped a package of brown leather he had scavenged from the Locust into her unsuspecting hands then moved on to examine the heavy doors wordlessly. With Curious eyes and trembling fingers, Jennifer tugged at the tan cord to reveal a small collection of sealed, sterilised needles and a few shots of much needed morphine. The medic smiled and slipped the packaging into her pocket. She looked to Sergeant Fenix pulling on a large door mechanism and her respect for him grew. Despite how much he terrified her, he always looked out for his squad.
With a signal from the squad leader, Jennifer fell into line with the rest of Delta against the massive stone doors. They were to take cover against them and move as the doors slid apart in case there was an ambush on the other side. It was smart thinking and something that would have certainly not occurred to the little medic. Again, she was glad for Sergeant Fenix's guidance.
Jennifer waited next to Carmine was a held breath. A thin line of light formed in the middle of the dark marble slabs, coupled with a loud rumble as the Locust mechanisms ground together. The girl could practically feel the vibrations through her teeth. Stone crushed and scraped against stone as the huge slabs split apart to reveal another gaping Locust cavern. Jennifer looked around with open mouthed awe as Delta moved cautiously through the cave. The cavern was huge and looked as if it had been formed rather recently. Only half of the tunnel had been completed and there were various sets of construction equipment left lying about in a careless fashion. More of the container pods they had found earlier were present but they were all empty. It was almost as if the Locust had abandoned the new tunnel in a hurry, not even bothering to pick their tools as they left.
It was not a boding sight or thought. There was very little that the Locust could be afraid of.
Off to Jennifer's right, the rookie let out a whistle through the vents of his helmet.
"Wow, look at the size of this place! It's bigger than a Thrashball court!" exclaimed Carmine. He stamped a booted foot down onto the half completed Locust tiles and sounded off an echo that seemed to last forever. It made Jennifer shiver inside her pearly grey armour. Her nerves were shot to pieces and she wasn't sure how much longer she could go on before she collapsed to the ground and wept in exhaustion and terror. Sergeant Fenix gestured forward with a wipe of his gloved hand and cautiously, Delta made their way through the empty chasm with bated breaths. The atmosphere was so tense that when Carmine tripped over a rock, the rest of Delta collectively jumped and raised their weapons. "Watch your step Carmine," growled Sergeant Fenix, his eyes searching out into the yawning abyss for any signs of an ambush. Navy blue eyes peered out too but Jennifer could see nothing but rocks and darkness.
Perhaps it was better that way. She had enough nightmares to deal with.
They were no more than twenty metres into the cavern when Delta simultaneously heard what sounded like the snarl of jungle cat that had been amplified at least three hundred times. It was so piercing that Jennifer felt as if someone was driving a knife into her skull. Locust screams just always seemed to hurt. Delta squad leapt into cover just as great beast dropped down from the upper shadows. The floating, long-limbed monster roughly six or seven times larger than a Reaver and glided through the air as if it was swimming. Metres and metres of thick, greenish hide covered the expanse of the creature's body and was studded with glowing mechanical implants and cords of steel. A metal, horn-like structure – gleaming in the dull cavern light – was mounted upon its massive head and looked sharp enough to carve titanium like a holiday roast.
The medic meanwhile trembled beside Dom, too afraid to even breathe. She peeked over the edge of her cover, just enough to see monstrous beast snarl and snap at the air impatiently with teeth larger than her entire body. Perched upon the huge metal saddle was the same Locust that had attacked the Assault Derrick, the same nightmarish vision that smouldered on the surface of her brain. Jennifer's eyes darted to the rest of the squad and found them to be staring with just as much shock as she was. Sergeant Fenix's white blue eyes were wider than she had ever seen before and Dom's jaw was practically touching the dusty tiles beneath their feet.
Jennifer turned her attention back to the floating fiend. The Locust rider suddenly gave a gurgling hiss and shouted out something in his bestial tongue that Jennifer did not understand. For a wild and truly frightening moment, Jennifer was sure he had spotted Delta in their feeble hiding places and was certain he would turn those teeth towards them and swallow Delta up whole. However, his mount did nothing more than rear upwards like a horse bucking and surged on through into another tunnel. The medic released a gulp of oxygen she had not realised she had been holding and was almost ready to collapse with relief when the worst happened.
Following up behind the horned Reaver was a sight that would haunt Jennifer for the rest of her days. A gaping black hole of nothing but teeth exploded out through the thick rock, bringing with it showers of boulders and earthquakes that would have felled the mightiest mountain on Sera. The moving barrage appeared so quickly and suddenly that Jennifer could not even register what exactly she was seeing. Miles after miles after miles of dark stone just bulldozed past her wide eyed vision like a tube train sailing through underground tunnels. It took a few more moments mind-blowing disbelief for Jennifer to realise that the rock was not actually rock at all, but rather scales that were so hard and jagged that they looked like rock. Delta were staring at a living, breathing creature that made the giant Rock Worms look tiny. "Oh shit," whispered Carmine from behind his own cover, stating what the rest of the team were thinking.
Hours seemed to pass before the earthquakes lessened and the wall of moving stone eventually shrunk down into what Jennifer assumed was the tail. Even the back end was spiked with Gear-sized boulders. Jennifer was amazed that anything that huge could move so fast. In the wake of the massive worm was only destruction and gasps of thick, granite infused dust that made Jennifer's eyes itch painfully.
While the rest of squad rose up from their cover on uneasy legs, the medic stayed rooted to the spot. Jennifer's stomach vibrated to the point where she felt the need to hurl but she did not dare open her mouth."Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!" exclaimed Carmine over the loud rumbling of stone collapsing. Dirty great chunks of ceiling caved in the wake of the giant snake.
Sergeant Fenix pivoted on his foot and pressed his Tac/Com hard. "Control, do you read me! Are you seeing this!" For the first time since Jennifer had been forced into Delta's ranks, she clearly heard the disbelief and shock in Marcus Fenix's voice.
Lieutenant Stroud of Control answered the Sergeants call and patched her message through to the entire squad. Jennifer cupped her ear to block out the sound of the cave crumbling. "Rodger that Delta. We've also just received top-side confirmation that Ilima city...Damnit, the entire city has been sunk, right at your position,"informed the Control operator, the shock evident in her voice.
"Anya, it's a giant worm! They're sinking cities with a giant worm!"
Jennifer gave a nod in approval. Yes. That about summed it all up in one sentence.
Giant worms were defiantly not covered in Basic.
Maria awoke with a start. She sat up, her heart pounding so wildly that she thought that she was having a seizure. The woman blinked quickly, trying to clear the cobweb of sleep from her green eyes. She could not determine just how long she had slept or what time it was. Maria knew very little apart from the fact that she had slept very well for the first time in many years. She was support on a strange stone structure that was similar to a bed but it was so soft and warm that Maria thought it was made of pure foam.
As her eyes adjusted into focus, Maria could roughly make out her rather bizarre surroundings. She was in what she assumed was a study of some kind. Many books – Locust and human alike – were carefully placed upon a dozen rock shelves on the wall opposite. The walls were beautiful; craved with geometric squares and studded with little glowing stones. An ornamental desk made from polished marble and blackwood sat just next to the bed. A collection of paper, quills and other various little knick knacks had been arranged upon the smooth marble surface. Many models of Locust and human military vehicles hung from the ceiling on strings of wire; their details intricate and precise as if someone had spent some time piecing them together.
Maria had been admiring a wooden model of what looked like an older version of a King Raven, a Kingfisher, when her Locust suddenly appeared in the room as if he had been watching and waiting for her to wake up. She felt uneasy at the very thought and sat still, not breathing a word. She had no idea what to say.
He was the first to break the silence. "Did you sleep well?"
"Yes I did." She reached a fist up and rubbed her eyes. "How long was I asleep for."
"Not long," he answered, as if that was explanation enough.
"Ah." It was all Maria could sum up at that present moment in time. She looked around the room again, complete at a loss for words "This is lovely room," she managed eventually.
The Locust's features flickered slightly, his face unreadable. "Yes. It was my Natus's room."
Maria quirked her head. She was not familiar with that particular word. "Natus?"
"He was, what you human's would say, my son."
Emerald green eyes widened in surprise. She had no idea that her Locust owner had a son. Hel had not mentioned him and Ragnarok's home had no indication that anyone else lived there. "Your son?"
Ragnarok nodded in his usual neutral manner.
Maria tested the waters. "Where is he? Does he live here?"
The Locust looked back to the human model. "He perished on the surface many, many moons ago."
The female very nearly opened her mouth to offer him sympathy when she suddenly remembered that she had lost her own children to his kind. Maria thought of little Benny and Sylvia and her heart ached for them. She remembered how she felt when they were gone, how she stumbled from one day to the next in a constant, drug induced daze. Maria could not even remember why on earth she had run away from Jacinto – and Dom – in the first place. To her, it seemed like such good idea at the time. She stared at the Locust until he blurred into the background. She tried to imagine the creature before her with offspring; handling little white Locust was gently as Maria would have handled her own children.
The thought should have scared her, but it didn't and she could not think why.
"I lost my children too. It nearly killed me," Maria admitted, the words burning in her throat. It tore her heart all over again just to admit that they were really dead and gone.
"I am sorry for your loss."
She felt a rush of sorrow and suddenly, she ripped the blankets from her body and lurched to her booted feet with a surge of courage. "Why am I even here? Did you bring me here to remind me of my dead kids?" Maria spat, her insides screaming.
"That was never my intention."
"Hel said you want my help, that the Lambent wanted my help but I don't even know why! I would sooner be back at that horrible camp with your brother! What the hell do you want from me?" Maria asked, her hands trembling. She wanted to hit him and run. She wanted run right out of Nexus and not stop until she had thrown herself in Dom's arms.
The Locust blinked once at her, cool intensity in his yellow eyes. He was seemingly unfazed by her outburst and her anger appeared not to concern him. It was hardly the reaction that Maria was hoping for. "Tell me, do you know of the word faith?"
Maria stared at him, caught somewhere between the highway of astonishment and disbelief. The angry evaporated from her in an instant and she flopped back down onto the bed. "Faith?" she repeated in case she had misheard him.
Ragnarok finally sat down in the desk chair near the bed and laced his large, white fingers together. He looked very out of place next to the books and paper
"Yes. Faith and peace is what some of my kin want."
Rage run through Maria's veins again. "You went to war with my people, slaughtered hundreds of thousands and torture hundreds more. How can you want peace from us?" she flared with anger.
Ragnarok remained calm even as Maria struck him with heated words. "Our queen went to war with the humans yes but there is a reason why." Ragnarok looked to the models dangling above the desk. "The queen has gone to war with the Groundwalkers because she no longer has any faith."
"What? What do you mean?"
Ragnarok brought his eyes back on level with hers. "I believe that Lambency is the next stage of Locust evolution, that it is what we are destined to become. Many of our kin believe as I do and have tried to reason with our queen, convince her into accepting the way of Lambent. She refuses to listen and therefore, the queen must be removed from power."
Maria froze, eyes wide with disbelief. "You want to kill your queen?"
The Locust Drone gave a nod. "It is our intention. She will not come peacefully."
"Isn't that treason?"
"Yes."
"That seems very risky," Maria said boldly with a surge of courage
Yellow eyes narrowed at the human. "Change rarely comes peacefully. I am certain that even your kind has had similar methods in the past."
The female thought for a moment. Some part of what he said made sense. Humanity had warred with each other since the dawn of time. Power struggles tore Sera apart and not one centaury had gone past where assassination was not attempted on those in power.
"But what about the rest of your kind? Surely they don't all want to kill the queen."
"Many of them are blinded by their bestial urges and fooled by our government. They cannot make decisions for themselves. We must do it for them."
"Can't you try talking to the queen about this?"
Ragnarok tipped his head back and a succession of low rumblings escaped his throat. The dark haired female stared at him and it took her a few moments to realise that the Locust was laughing.
"If only it were so easy. She chooses to be deaf to our words. The queen views my kind as an infection."
"Like a disease?"
"Some would call us that. They are foolish and have narrow minds."
"So the Lambent, are they like enlightened or something?" Maria asked, her curiosity aroused.
Ragnarok bowed his marble grey head forward. "Some are."
"Some?"
The Drone looked away and focused his stare on the wall opposite. His Locust features were twisted into what Maria thought was almost regretful. "Our Imulsion has caused some of my kin to become...abominations. They lose their spirit and become an empty vessel that knows only hate and destruction. Hel says that it is because they do not have faith in the Imulsion. Our god lives in the Imulsion, waiting for us."
"What do you do with them?"
"Exterminate them. There is little else we can do for them." Ragnarok answered.
"Isn't that a bit extreme?"
The skin where an eyebrow should have been raised slightly in a very human manner. "Perhaps."
Maria's face twisted into a frown. "This doesn't sound right Ragnarok. Isn't there some other way?"
"There is very little about this world that is right." His stare shifted back onto the models hanging above the desk and he seemed at bit sadder. "So very little. I am certain that you understand this."
She did.
Very much so.
For a moment, the pair were silent as Maria struggled to figure out what to say or do. Her head swam with so many maddening questions that she didn't know which one to ask first.
So she focused on the most important one. The one that had been gnawing away at her sanity since the prison camp, since Ragnarok had whisked her out of that horrible place.
"I still don't see what this has to do with me," Maria said.
Ragnarok finally looked back to her, his intelligent eyes missing nothing. They never did. "You are important. It will be you who will help the Lambent and human meet in the middle grounds."
The human's mouth dropped open in surprise and shock. Maria was not even entirely sure that she had heard him correctly. Perhaps her mind was more far gone than she feared? "Me?" Maria repeated
"Yes. Much depends on you."
Maria wet her chapped lips. "But why?" She hated the way her voice sounded, so weak and tiny.
"You are brave. You are fearless even whilst you faced danger at the hands of my brethren."
If only he knew that the only reason Maria was brave and fearless was because she had nothing left to lose. Everything loved and special had been taken from her already.
"I'm not any of those things."
"No? My brothers seem to think so Munnnaki. Though many hate humans, they were impressed with your bravery."
The female narrowed her eyes. The pieces didn't quite fit together. They never did when the Locust were involved. "There were plenty of other brave humans in the camp. I saw them killed in horrible ways. Why am I so special?" Maria did not bother to hide her suspicion. She was long past caring.
Ragnarok caught her tone but did not acknowledge her statement. Locust did that often it seemed to Maria. When they met arguments or confrontations that they did not like, they either blanked them out completely or attacked the humanoid in question. Maria was confident that the latter was – for the most part – unlikely.
"You have a mate do you not?"
Maria froze. She had had no idea that Ragnarok knew about Dom. "Yes," she finally answered.
"He is called Dominic Santiago yes?"
Shocked stole her voice and all Maria could do was nod numbly. How on earth did he know?
"Your Dominic." Dom's name sounded strange upon his Locust tongue. "He is a member of the human squad Delta, lead by Fenix. They have damaged to the queen's power and her grasp slips from us. Delta killed the Tyrant RAAM. Their interference has done much to further our cause even if they do not know it. They were sent to deliver us from this evil. I am certain of it." Ragnarok leaned forward in his chair. "We require their aid in removing the Queen from power and we would give much in exchange. Our weapons. Our Knowledge. Anything. What is ours, we shall give."
What the humans wanted was something that the Locust could never give back. Maria knew it all too well. Her emerald orbs narrowed into slits. "You still have not answered my question. Where do I fit into this?" Ragnarok had been avoiding her question for far too long and Maria was sick of it. The female was determined to get a straight, riddle-free answer from the Locust even if she had to pull it from his fanged mouth.
The Locust looked at her as if it was the first time she had asked such a question. "You will be our messenger. We will take you to Delta and you will give them our proposal then you will be free to go if you desire." Ragnarok paused to watch for a reaction from the human.
Oddly enough, Maria found that she was having no reaction. She felt completely numb, as if she had been sitting in a tub of cold water for several hours. "You would let me go? Just like that?"
"Despite what the humans may think of us, we are warriors. We honour our word when it is given."
Maria stared with intense shock, finding the concept difficult to grasp. "How can we trust you? Trust the Lambent?"
The creature looked pointedly at her. "Is that not the entire meaning of trust Munnnaki? You trust me do you not?"
It took a moment for the idea to sink into her mentally exhausted mind and when she was finally about to respond, a knocking at the door attracted their attention. The Locust female stood gingerly – there was just no other way to explain it – in the doorway of the room. She looked uncomfortable; her Locust features pained as she stared into the room that Maria now knew belonged to her son.
"Ragnarok, Shale has arrived. Shall I send her through?" Hel said, looking distant and far off.
The male Locust looked towards his mate. "Yes, we shall speak with her now."
Hel nodded and disappeared back into the darkness of the Locust dwelling without another word. She just seemed to move so silently and swiftly, almost as if she were floating. Maria marvelled at the gracefulness that was beyond any ballerina and wondered briefly how something so large could move with such poise and grace.
Moments later - before Maria even had a chance to breathe – another Locust entered the sleeping chamber. It was female, that much was for certain and moved with a strength that was very different from Hel's graceful float. She was tall and just seemed to fill up the entire room. She was snow white like Hel but had splashes of grey here and there; like watercolour paint on pristine white paper. Inky, clan markings were painted upon her explosed arms. The new Locust wore a knee length tunic much like Hel's underneath a Locust chest plate. Three or four belts stitched with pockets were slung around her waist, heavy with ammo. She was supported on legs encased in leather greaves and her feet were adorned in heavy boots that were larger than Maria's skull and could have crushed it without any effort. A torque bow and Hammerburst were slung over her back. It was the first female warrior that Maria had seen to date.
The newcomer surveyed Maria with what the human assumed was disgust before turning her attention onto Ragnarok. Maria gathered her face into a forceful frown – or at least she hoped it was forceful.
"Is this It?" The Locust female addressed Ragnarok.
"Yes, this is Munnnaki." Ragnarok shifted his yellow eyed stare back onto Maria. "Munnnaki, this is Shale of the Cadash House. She is a great warrior of our people."
Maria looked at the massive creature and could easily picture her on the battlefield. She did not look as if she belonged anywhere else. Maria felt so little and dwarfed by her mere presence. "Hello," she managed bravely, threading her hands through the clumps of blankets in a vain attempt to keep them from trembling.
Shale moved her eyes over the small human; the orange orbs taking in every detail of her tiny frame. "Are you sure that this is It? Is It really as strong as you say Ragnarok?"
It took a few moments for Maria to realise that the Locust was referring to her as the "It", an act of disrespectfulness that made Maria feel little more than a farm animal on sale at a market.
It then occured to her that was what she truly was in the eyes of the Locust. She had been bought by Ragnarok after all.
"Yes Shale."
Shale looked expectedly at Maria. The human female was not entirely sure what to do. She felt small and tiny the presence of the Locust warrior.
"Shale you will take Munnnaki to the surface to find Delta," Ragnarok stated.
The lump in Maria's throat came unstuck and she looked to the female Locust and found little indifference on Shale's face. A set of rich, amber coloured eyes stared back at her with neither malice nor kindness. It was an expression that she was not used to seeing on a Locust face. "When?" Maria asked, eager to be free of the Locust and their mind games. Though the deal seemed too good to be true, Maria knew she had very little choice.
"When the time is right," answered Ragnarok in his usual, mystical manner.
Maria felt herself cock an eyebrow and from the corner of her eye, Shale caught the movement of skin. The warrior looked almost amused for a moment. "You speak riddles Odin'Ragnarok, not answers," the female Locust.
"In riddles, there is truth," Ragnarok replied. He was certainly a man of faith.
"I am surprised that It can understand you at all Ragnarok. You are made of nothing but hot air that it is a wonder that you have not floated away."
"Truly your warrior heart has dulled your brain if you cannot appreciate the knowledge in riddles," the male tossed back.
Shale gave a Locust equivalent of a snort and tapped one foot impatiently. It was an action that Maria herself had done countless times with she had been irritated with Dom and he had hated it because he was sure that her heeled sandals would scratch the tiles. "I did not come here to listen to your nonsense Ragnarok."
"No? Then why have you come?"
Shale's eyes darkened. "To inform you of disturbing facts that have come to my attention. There are some things that you cannot ignore for much longer Ragnarok."
A flicker of fear crossed Ragnarok's face for a moment before it disappeared back underneath his unreadable Locust expression. His yellow eyes rested on Maria for a moment before they shifted back onto Shale. "We should speak of this elsewhere," Ragnarok said, indicating towards the threshold. Shale nodded and turned on her booted foot without so much as another glance Maria's general direction. For that, the human female was grateful. She was not entirely sure she could have handled Shale's presence pressing down on her like an invisible weight much longer.
Ragnarok rose from the ornate desk chair. "You should rest now. you will need your strength back for when Shale takes you to the surface."
"I don't think Shale likes me very much," Maria stated, wrinkling her nose.
"Shale does not hate you. She is simply fierce because it is in her blood. She can do nothing else." He paused for a moment. "Shale is the last of Blood of House Cadash. General Cadash'RAAM was killed by Delta and though she is sided with us, Shale is reminded of him every passing day by the Locust. She has endured much. Do not blame her."
"Why does she side with the Lambent? Does she even believe in the Imulsion as you do?" the dark haired human asked, generally curious.
Ragnarok shook his head. "I know not. She simply came to us and pledged herself our cause. We turn none down and Shale is a daughter of influence in the High Court."
Maria's brow furrowed. "Sounds very suspicious."
"Perhaps but Shale has never done anything other than protect us. Shale desires freedom. I am confident that she will help us." Ragnarok's eyes betrayed the mystic smile he plastered across his Locust face. "Fear not, rest. We shall speak more of this later when you are properly rested." The male Locust disappeared through the stone archway and left Maria alone, her head swimming with darkened thoughts. It was not until he pulled the heavy wooden door shut did Maria finally move. She pulled her legs up to rest her chin on her knees and wrapped the blanket around her body. With Ragnarok and Shale gone, she could finally break down in private without being judged or evaluated for weaknesses. It was all to too much for the human female.
She was so busy sobbing that she did not notice the door open. It swung open softly to reveal the Locust Hel, carrying a marble tray of stew and some kind of bread roll. "You need to eat more. You have very little to weigh you down to this earth," Hel said softly and handed the tray to Maria. Too weak-willed to push the tray right back in the Locust's face, Maria accepted the offering and unfolded her legs to support the tray on her lap. "Thank you Hel. This smells lovely," Maria responded truthfully. The human peered at the Locust and – now that she knew the truth – was finally able to see the grief in Hel's humanoid face.
She had seen it so many times before, staring back at her in the mirror of her bathroom.
"Hel?"
"Yes?"
"Can I ask you something?"
"Certainly."
Maria swallowed down a spoonful of stew and looked to the Locust, finally able to see a shred of humanity in the eyes of another lost mother.
"Tell me about your son."
Finally got around to tweaking my lambent plot so it kinda fits in with what we know in Gears 3. I want Ragnarok to believe that the Imulsion is a god of some kind and that Lambency (however gruesome the outcome) is the next stage of Locust evolution. He (and many others) will firmly believe in this. At least this sort of fits in with Gears 3.