Disclaimer: I don't own Gears or Epic. I only own the books, the figures, the huge ass Lancer, a poster signed by Lester (the voice of Cole Train), a few pictures I took with him, and naturally…the games.
Disturbing Revelations
By Ghedea
Chapter Nine – Stories and Confessions
Chairman Prescott's Temporary Office
He stood quietly in Prescott's office, his eyes seemingly dark as they watched Colonel Price and Captain Miller enter the Chairman's office. Well, it wasn't much of an office to be perfectly honest. Hoffman had seen better pseudo-offices in the Stranded inhabited areas. Control had promptly set up a quarters for the man in what he was sure was once part of the actual barracks. It was dank, dark, and rather depressing. Victor was utterly surprised by the fact that Prescott hadn't drunk himself into a stupor with how dreary it seemed. As much as he hated to admit it, Richard knew how to handle any situation that was thrown at him…and this would be no different.
"Colonel Hoffman, Chairman Prescott sir…how may we help you today?" Captain Miller spoke with an air of arrogance in his tone, "I suspect this to be urgent or else you wouldn't have pulled me out of a meeting with my soldiers."
Richard Prescott had been standing at the window for quite some time, his gaze piercing out into the growing darkness. "Anything I have to say is urgent, Captain." Richard hissed coolly as he turned upon the heel of his right foot to glance over at the black-clad uniformed man, "My Gears need one of your squad and your equipment along with two stealth KR units."
A ghost of a smile formed upon Victor's features as he kept his steely gaze upon the men, registering their movements and expression. He may not be from the special COG unit, but he was nothing if not observant and keen. Victor had been sent on many special operations that consisted of stealth when the Pendulum Wars waged. In fact, one of his best men had been Dominic Santiago. While Helen Stroud's unit (Anya's mother as well as Marcus and Carlos superior) kept the enemy at bay, Dom had been sent in to retrieve the blueprints to the Hammer of Dawn. He had made it out alive whilst others had died. Hoffman was still heavy at heart when he thought about what happened to Helen Stroud's unit. She had literally been torn to pieces by a grenade and Carlos had taken the hits to save Marcus. Dom had no idea what happened to his big brother until he returned, which had severely placed a damper on his happiness when his daughter had been born that very same night.
Needless to say, Hoffman as well as half of Delta Squad had seen their fair share of nightmares before Emergence Day happened. So when two upstarts like Miller and Price enter with their proverbial noses stuck in the air, well…he just couldn't help but take offense. His normally light hues settled upon the door as it opened, revealing Marcus and Augustus. Hoffman nodded his head when Marcus paused and placed his hand upon Cole's chest plate, as if waiting to make sure he was allowed in. After their little discussion in sickbay the day before the first sinkhole had emerged, he came to understand why Fenix did what he had to…even if it meant dire consequences. To find your mother's dead body within the Locust tunnels after she had been missing for 15 years had to be one hell of an eye opener. Damn Adam Fenix to the fiery pits of hell. Marcus was a good man, a great soldier…and his reputation had been tarnished and deemed as a deserter because he wanted answers from his father. He never did like that damn scientist, no farther than he could throw Cole…which was highly unlikely with how massive the ex-Thrashball player was.
"You may enter, Sgt. Fenix…we were just about to begin." Richard spoke with an air of intelligence and leadership. The whole of humanity may not have liked his decision with the Hammer Strike so long ago, but it was necessary. The loss of humanity was rising because of the Locusts just within that first year. If he hadn't done what he did, there would be no remaining human left. "As I said, I need a squad and your equipment." He said with his keen eyes staring the two special unit officers steadily and not a bit wavered. It took a lot to disturb him, for he had witnessed too much horrors in life to be taken down by some hoity-toity special ops men who deemed themselves better than the Gears.
"And for what reason do you need such things, Chairman?" Colonel Price spoke, his voice level and unperturbed.
Captain Miller stood to the right side of Price, his eyes watching Marcus Fenix with a steady gaze, one that was given right back. He often wondered why he hadn't retrieved Fenix from Jacinto Maximum Prison and recruited him, for the man would have been an asset to their unit. "We're not going to have a choice in the matter, are we?" he asked, more so to Marcus than to Prescott.
Sergeant Fenix kept his icy blue gaze upon the Captain, his expression betraying nothing as he waited patiently for the results of this impromptu meeting. When Prescott gestured for Marcus to answer, the man stepped up to the Captain, neither abashed nor frightened. "No…you really don't." he said in a steady tone that betrayed the conflicts raging inside of him.
"We should be working together, baby. I don't see what all the fuss is about…" Cole said, his dark eyes focused upon Colonel Price. Of course he was thinking about the whole fraternization concept, especially in this day and age when humanity was dying out. Everyone knew what he meant by that statement, except for the stiff uniforms standing nearby.
Hoffman damn near laughed at Cole's approach. "Leave it to the Cole Train to lighten the mood…" Victor announced as Augustus laughed heartily, "He's right. We're still fighting a war. We're all humans and we need to work together. But if you insist on knowing the reasons…well, please sit down and we shall explain. It is, after all, a very long story...now where to start?"
"The beginning is usually a good place to start, Victor…wouldn't you say?" Prescott said with a slight grin forming his features as he turned back around to stare out the small window. His reason for doing this wasn't just because he owed Hoffman, but because of the secrets he knew…concerning one Aasera Fenix. Perhaps if he had said something, done something, anything at all…they could have watched her back and she wouldn't have gotten captured. Damn himself to the pits of hell for lying to Hoffman when he said he held no more secrets.
-o0o-
Seth stood quietly beside the stealth Raven as he awaited the return of Marcus and Cole, his eyes constantly turning down to his wristwatch before shifting back up to see if they were arriving. "I should have gone with them…" he stated for the second time in three minutes as he pulled in his bottom lip and began to gnaw at the flesh with his teeth.
"Seriously, if you can't chill out I really will have to knock you out." Baird said as he continued to examine the equipment that was to help with their search, as well as the King Raven, "These are just amazing…"
Dom chortled as he turned to look at the blonde, his brown eyes lighter than they had been in the weeks since Maria's death, "Do you two need your privacy, Baird? Would you like to have a make-out session with the Raven?"
The blonde popped out, sans a glove, and flipped Dom the bird before returning to inspecting the innards of the KR unit. "You can seriously kiss my ass, Santiago. If you guys would take machinery more seriously, maybe I wouldn't have to be the one to fix it all the goddamn time!" he huffed grumpily as he strained himself to focus. Truth be told, he was trying very hard to keep his mind off Aasera. He did the only thing he could do; focus on something that would keep him busy, his mind busy to be more precise.
"Is he…always like that?" Naomi inquired -- her brow arching as she watched the man putter around to ogle the Raven.
Santiago laughed again and turned his gaze onto the attractive woman, "I'm afraid so. He's always been itching to check out your guys' stuff. It gives him ideas for what we have now, which could be helpful." He stated thoughtfully.
Suth and Kasarta stepped up behind the two and equally stared at the Private, "May we ask why it would be so helpful?" Suth questioned.
"Because as much of a smartass as he is, he's brilliant and knows more about the Locusts than anyone else."
Seth snapped his gaze up to the sound of Marcus' voice and quickly stood up. There was anxiety written across his features, and it wasn't because he was afraid that he might lose his rank or squad. "What's going on? What did they say?" he spat out quickly, his heart rate speeding up as he awaited the answers, "Well?!"
Marcus turned his eyes upon the man and felt his anxiety, for he too felt it. He was certain the man was never the type to express emotions, but he assumed that because of the dire situation he decided to forgo it. "Hoffman gave you his word, didn't he…?" he said, figuring that was more than enough of an answer for the Wraith.
"Marcus and Hoffman were smooooth, baby…" Cole stated as he bound in and saw Damon under the hood of the KR unit, "Baird, man…not again…"
"Can it!" Baird spat at his friend as he pulled his head out from peering at the engines, his eyes focused upon Fenix, "You explained everything? How the hell did they take that shit?"
"We told them everything…" he paused and turned his gaze on Seth's mismatched brown hues, "and I do mean everything. I'll admit; they stared at me as if I had grown a second and third head when I told them. That's when Hoffman stepped in along with Prescott to smooth things over, to make them understand. They're not happy about it, but they can't do shit…unless they're fucking crazy and want to go against the Chairman, which wouldn't be a wise decision."
"Shit no…" Cole said as he stared at the King Raven and wavered in stance, "I wouldn't dare go against that man. You can tell he's all sorts of…wrong…and political."
Naomi stepped up and patted Augustus on the shoulder, "You won't feel a thing, I promise." She said with a small, yet genuine, smile, "I have the same problem as you. Never been a fan of flying."
Cole still looked, if it was possible, a little green in the face, "You sure 'bout that?"
While Troy laughed, Baird patted his greasy hands upon his armor and nodded his head, "Oh she's definitely sure. Not even a highly sensitive in hearing Locust could hear that shit, and it will most certainly run a lot smoother than the regular KR's. That's some fancy work…"
"Well…I suppose we're not stealth for nothing…" Naomi said with a grin as her gaze settled upon Baird's, "I mean, we couldn't get to places secretly if we didn't have something that could get us in and out without being detected.
"Enough of the chitchat!" the brother Fenix called out as he hopped into the Raven alongside Seth just as Hoffman, Bernie, and Anya showed up in their own gear and equipped with weapons. Marcus stared down into Anya's eyes, imploring her to stay…but she offered him that stubborn expression that resembled her mother's. This caused him to sigh as he offered her a hand and pulled her inside. "I don't like this…bad enough my sister isn't safe, I don't want to have to worry about you too…" he said softly to the Lieutenant as he sat down beside Raldoran.
Anya peered at Marcus beneath the veil of blonde and rose a brow, "I'll be fine, and she's my friend damn it…you can't expect me to stay out of this Marcus. I just won't." she spat, a little angry with the man.
Dom smirked, turned his gaze to Hoffman who had equally smirked, and then settled in next to Baird. "So…how exactly are we doing this?" he asked.
"We're splitting up. We have the extra fuel tanks attached, so we shouldn't have to worry about that." Naomi answered as she went to work flicking the switches to bring upon the separate radar, "When one of us has come across what appears to be a Locust outpost, we'll use the other equipment that will allow us to look in deeper and find readings between grubs and humans. The call will be made in to the other team and we'll meet up together."
"Will we have time for that?" Marcus asked out of curiosity. He didn't want to have to wait any longer than needed.
Seth turned a little and nodded, "Why don't you take a look out the window to see for yourself…" he murmured.
Fenix narrowed his eyes, squinting a little to see through the window (for it was very dark, tinted) and blinked, "Damn." They were already off the ground and speeding through the air as if they were on some sort of jet plane, "Wasn't expecting that…let's hope Cole doesn't decide to look outside."
"No shit…" Baird laughed, "Otherwise he'll be taggin' the walls with his lunch."
-o0o-
An hour later, still in the air.
"Hey Marcus…" Seth said quietly as he peered down at his hands, "how long have you known?"
Fenix sat there just as quietly as he smoothed his fingers over the bayonet of his Lancer. He didn't say anything at first, but he paused in his inspection of the weapon as he lifted his gaze up. "I think a little a couple of weeks after we picked the two of you up from that building." He said roughly as his gaze shifted to the side to peer at Seth, "I take that back. It was a couple of days after when she was acting very snippy with me. I think you remember…"
Seth leaned forward, his hands clasped together, "Were we really that obvious?"
Once again the brother Fenix didn't say anything at first as he put the Lancer down onto his lap, his icy gaze shifting to the ceiling. "No…I'm just observant, especially when it's my younger sister. She was acting weird, and I couldn't understand why…until that day when I confronted her about it. She was looking at you…and I understood." Marcus murmured in a grumbling tone, which was a usual sound for the man, "It only confirmed my suspicions after she had been captured…" he winced.
Raldoran winced too at that word, his heart feeling as if it had a vise grip upon it, "I remember when I heard her voice…I couldn't believe it, I didn't want to believe it was her down there…"
"Do you know what happened to her? She hates talking about it for so many different reasons..." He asked, realizing that he was speaking about her as if she were safe and not in the hands of the Locust, again.
Seth raked his fingers through dark locks and kept his hands clasped at the nape of his neck as he bent forward and stared down at his boots. "She had been tortured for hours, in different ways. She couldn't move because that bastard…" he hissed, "had dislocated every single part of her that could move. You could barely even touch her because of the pain she was in. From the dislocations to the beatings, and the lashings from being whipped – I'm surprised she didn't pass out from pained exhaustion. But that's not what had her crying…" He remembered it to this day, her cries and anguish, the torment in her eyes – and none of it was from torture. "He tried to make her choose. Betray the COG or watch a man died. She tried to save him, threw herself in front of the Boltok pistol even though she shouldn't have been able to move." He hissed, his breathing sharp as the dull pain from his chest emerged.
Marcus didn't like the sound of this, already knowing what had happened to his sister and the original Sierra unit. He knew her then, but only very little…that's when he was sent to prison. The guards made it a habit to torture him through news, and that was one piece that damn near broke him when everything else didn't. Perhaps that's why taking out RAAM felt so damn good, it was vengeance for his sister. At that thought, he realized that she had been terrorized by two Locust Commander's. One nearly killed her, the other…well; he didn't know what the new one had planned. "What happened…?"
"He grabbed her by the hair and yanked her away then shot the man; his head popping clean off in front of all the other civilians and Stranded that were locked up in there. That was the first time I ever had to hear her cry, and I swore to myself it would be the last. Unfortunately, I broke that vow not long after I made it. Wraith had already started making preparations to get the civvies out to safety. I had no idea at that point that Sera was with them. So we continued with the original plan. We had to change it though, because that sadistic bastard did something else that probably would have killed Sera through heartache." He went on to explain his brown eyes focusing on a spot on his combat boots, "He used a kid as leverage. A damn kid! He was crying while in the hands of a drone, and that bastard talked sweet to the child. He rubbed it in Sera's face, too. Told the kid that it would be her damn fault that he would be killed if she didn't give the information he wanted."
He watched as the man trembled and could even feel himself do the same. The anger that he felt towards the Locust had a tenfold boost just by listening to this story, "No wonder she decided to do what she did when Jacinto sunk…" he said in a low gruff voice, when Seth turned his gaze at the man, he went on to explain, "As much as she wanted to save that kid, she couldn't betray the COG, she wouldn't. Even though the kid lived because of you guys, she probably felt as if she still had to make amends for it."
"I never really thought of it like that. She's so damn unpredictable at times that it's hard to figure out what she'll do next. I thought she had done it because she's who she is, stubborn and always willing to fly out of the seat of her pants if she needs to. But what you said…that makes all the sense in the world." He murmured solemnly as he felt his chest quiver in pain at the thought of never being able to see or hold Aasera again, "I can't lose her…"
"None of us can…" Marcus said as he thumbed the tip of the Lancer's bayonet, "and we won't."
Seth snapped his gaze up once again at Fenix's words and blinked. The conviction in his tone, the passion and determination; it thoroughly shook Raldoran to the very core. "How can you do that?" he started, his voice cracking with emotion, "I've been trained to be emotionless, to be strong and fight without much of a reason. But you, you don't have the extensive training we've had and yet you come out a winner each time. How do you do it?"
"I failed once…" he said as he peered out the dark window, even darker now that the sun had set, "I made a mistake and it cost a life in the process. Not just any life…" His eyes seemed to darken as he stared past Anya and Hoffman to settle upon the back of Dom's head, "He was my best friend, a brother that I never had just as much as Dom is. Carlos Santiago, Dominic's older brother. We went to school together, Carlos and I…joined the COG together, were in the same unit with one another. Because of my mistake, he had run out to either save me or distract the enemy."
Marcus had stopped talking, and Seth didn't urge him to continue. The fact that the man opened up to him was quite a statement, and he was flabbergasted. "I'm sorry…I don't even…" he muttered, unable to comprehend what it must have been like. Wraith had been trained to be killers, to not feel even if a comrade were to die. He never really thought about it because they never had any issues.
He shrugged as he sat back and stared up at the ceiling of the KR unit, "I don't think anyone really knows what to say in a situation like that. Carlos had saved my damn ass…and I couldn't even repay him. Dom lost his older brother…because of me, and I couldn't even tell him until just recently the specifics behind his brother's death. But then I found out that Dom was the one sent out on recon to nab the Hammer of Dawn's blueprints and files from the enemy in Aspho Fields, same place we were…holding off the enemy so he could get in and get out. Tai always used to say that things happen for a reason. After that, I knew I had to protect Dom as much as I possibly could, do anything for him and Maria, the kids as well as his parents who, in a sense, had become my own parents. Mine were always too busy…"
"So you and Dom have known each other for a long time?" Seth asked, thoroughly intrigued as well as sad by this story that he had never knew, no one did…save the few. Yes, everyone knew about Aspho Fields and the Great War Hero Marcus Fenix as well as how they obtained the HoD's blueprints, but no one knew of the darker story. The Gears were the frontline men back in the Pendulum Wars, as they were in this war as well. Only this war was much more devastating than the last.
The brother nodded as he closed his eyes, "Since school…few years younger, but not by much."
It was a simple answer, but it spoke volumes. In those few words Seth could see a multitude of images. They had grown up together, played together, built cars with one another. They laughed and had many happy times, but also the sad and devastating. Raldoran could see all those things, and it made him breathless. "Is it true Baird and Sera knew each other?"
"From what Damon told me, they knew each other since the first day of kindergarten. Apparently he said some smartass remark to her and she kicked him in the shin so hard that he dropped to the ground when they had recess." Marcus chortled, a grin forming his handsome, yet scarred, features.
Seth tried very hard to keep a straight face, but it was hard after hearing this information. He burst out laughing, which gave him quite a few unusual stares. "That does sound like her…" he murmured, coughing in an attempt to mask the laugh, "Tough thing even when she was a little girl. It truly doesn't surprise me…"
"Yeah…" Marcus drawled, his grin widening, "I still rub that shit in Baird's face. It's one good way to shut him up, that's for damn sure."
"I'll keep that in mind…" Seth grinned.
"Make sure that you do…I don't give out handy advice freely." He said, icy blues turning to mismatched browns. They had an understanding now due to their story-telling. He felt he could trust the man with his sister, as long as he promised to love her the way she deserved, "Protect and love her, Raldoran. And for all that is holy, cherish her until your dying days."
He nodded, "You have my word on that, Fenix. You have my word."
A/N: So, a little insight on both Marcus and Seth/Sera. Of course I took the info from Gears of War: Aspho Fields. It's been awhile since I read that book. I might have to go back and read, then update to fix it if I have to. The information for Seth and Sera is part of the back story that I have. I know it's not much, and this chapter was probably very boring to most…I still had fun writing it out. Reviews ARE welcome, but I honestly hate it when other authors do that 'review or I won't update' crap…so it's honestly not mandatory. It would be nice to read thoughts, I won't lie…but hey, some people don't have the time, yeah? Hope everyone has a good weekend.
