Disclaimer:

I do not own anyone or anything associated with the Haruhi Suzumiya Series and whatever else I'm going to include here in this fanfic; they all belong to their respective creators - so no surprise there.

I'm just writing this down for my personal entertainment as well as for others.

Author's Note:

This short story is based on Gears of War I's Act II, though there are some inconsistencies, but hopefully they aren't that bad to begin with. Enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed typing this.

It was getting dark on one side of the planet Sera, and the SOS Brigade, a specialized COG squad led by Haruhi Suzumiya, were running through a ruined city's desolate streets to find decent sources of lights to stay under for the rest of the night for their mission. Their booted footsteps began to echo loudly as they picked up their pace with good reason; flapping sounds from all directions were getting louder, as well as a distinct chittering noise. The group, consisting of two men and three women, dared not to waste anymore time looking up to investigate the noises or making sure enemies weren't around to ambush them.

Overhead in the darkening Seran sky, the first waves of the Kryll, small bat-like beings that were easily described as 'piranhas of the air' that only attacked in the darkness, were slowly becoming hot on their trail. Koizumi, their point man, wisely lit up a flare and held it like a torch as he led their way through another street and through an empty alleyway: For the Kryll were highly sensitive to light and absolutely refused to get near any source of it. But that wouldn't deter them from trying to kill them in the least, because though they may be afraid of the light, they were hungry as hell - and the SOS Brigade damn well knew it.

They took a sharp turn into another empty alleyway, and to their relief a lit building was in sight.

"Lights!" Koizumi pointed out through tiring breaths. "Up ahead!"

"Finally!" Haruhi screeched, rushing past him. "Koizumi, throw your flare down now!"

"Yes ma'am!" The man obeyed, leaving a tiny gap of darkness between their spot and the open door.

But then the ground suddenly shook. The source of the shaking was coming from inside the building.

"Oh, come on!" Kyon yelled annoyedly as he realized what it meant. "Emergence Hole! Locusts incoming!"

"Everyone, take cover!" Mikuru screamed as she ducked behind a slab of stone, preparing herself.

Cursing, Haruhi rushed back just in time. "And they just had to come out now out of all times they could have!"

"Here they come." Nagato warned them as she took aim with her Lancer from her side of the alleyway.

As expected, the first of the Locusts arrived - the Drones - shooting their Hammerbursts at the desperate humans.

"Die, groundswalker!" One of them bellowed, before it was abruptly killed thanks to a bullet from Nagato's Lancer.

The Gears then all fired back, and the two sides were soon locked in a chaotic firefight: one that neither must lose if they wanted to live. Trails of bullets, of which both were red and yellow, frequently passed by one another. The former colour hit stone and metal, while the latter colour mostly hit flesh. As the gunfire and the screams of the dying enemy echoed throughout the area, the Kryll circled around them up high. The corpses on the enemy side were piling up, and more and more of them gathered as they were finding it too tantalising to pass up on free meat if the lights went out for a reason. Koizumi noticed them.

"We have to hurry! The flare's almost used up and the Kryll are above us!" He called out. "We have to rush them!"

"Like hell we are under that heavy fire!" Kyon snapped as he took potshots at the enemy, earning him two kills.

"It's that or we die, Kyon!" Haruhi pointed out, taking her time to reload. "We don't have much of a choice here!"

As to illustrate her point, their flare flickered for a moment, almost causing the monsters above them to scoop down.

"Well, shit!" Kyon spat as soon as he let out his held breath. "If that's the case... Cover me!"

"Huh?! Wait a minute, what are you going to-" But Mikuru never finished what she wanted to say.

Kyon leapt over his cover and madly fired into the resolute grey-skins. The humanoid monstrosities all turned their attention to the exposed soldier, incidentally causing most of them to carelessly go out of their cover just to try and kill him as well. The other Gears reacted quickly: Nagato scored more headshot kills than everyone else combined while Mikuru, Koizumi, and a surprised Haruhi finished off whatever enemy they could get their iron sights on. Kyon bravely rushed into the building as he switched to his side-arm, shooting from the hip as he did so, for his Lancer was now empty of ammunition and smoking from the barrel.

The last of the Drones were killed shortly afterwards, and the Emergence Hole closed in response.

Breathing heavily from his suicidal rush, Kyon collapsed sideways to a wall and stood against it for support. The others soon caught up with him as the flare died out. A concerned look was on both Mikuru's and Koizumi's faces, while Nagato's was emotionless and Haruhi's was livid. The man on the wall grimly smiled at them as he felt around his pockets for ammunition for reloading his weapons, but when he couldn't find any, he nonchalantly shrugged and attempted to loot the Hammerbursts from the fallen Drones, only to suddenly feel a hard smack against his cheek that staggered him and nearly made him fall over.

"Ow, what the fuck?!" He growled angrily at the offender, turning to see Haruhi. "The heck was that for, Haruhi?!"

"That was for doing a stupid move, Kyon! You could have gotten yourself killed!" She practically screeched. "You idiot!"

"So?!" Kyon hissed. "I'm not the only Gear the COG is going to miss!"

"That's not the point!" Haruhi's voice rose alarmingly. "We need you to stay alive for the mission to be a success!"

"I don't give a damn about that!" He yelled back. "If I didn't do it, we all would have been Kryll food by now!"

"But..." Haruhi started, but had nothing else to say. Actually she did, but she couldn't spit it out.

The man winced as he massaged his stinging cheek, his temper dying. "Anyways... Let's get going."

Koizumi decided it was time for the others to butt in. "Tsuyura said our objective is due west; a few clicks from here."

"But there are no available lights around the perimeter." Nagato inputted. "We, however, can make our own."

Mikuru had been scanning the darkness outside and saw nothing interesting, so she asked doubtfully: "How so?"

"We shoot the propane tanks in the area." She answered. She turned to Kyon. "Permission to do so, sir?"

He considered it. "It's a good call, Nagato, but it's going to make the lives of the Stranded here worse. They use them."

Koizumi sighed. "Unfortunately, it is the only way for us to proceed with our quest. Unless we can find more flares..."

"Enough with the flares already." Kyon grumbled. "You know they're shit, Koizumi. They only last thirty minutes."

"I know, sir, but still, it was merely a suggestion." He paused. "Oh well, I guess we'll have to make do with the tanks."

"Then it's decided." Haruhi rejoined the conversation after collecting herself. "Now let's stock up on ammo and move out!"

"Yes ma'am." They replied. Though Kyon shook his head and muttered something as he reloaded his new Hammerburst.

While the others were scavenging for ammo, Haruhi moved to one corner of the building and reported to HQ.

"Command, this is Brigadier One." Haruhi said to Tsuyura over her earpiece. "We're now close to our objective."

"Acknowledged, Brigadier One!" Tsuyura replied cheerily. "But remain on guard! Hostile activity has been detected nearby!"

"Thanks for the heads up." Haruhi nodded. "We'll be seeing you soon, Command. Over and out."

The line was then dropped, leaving the five Gears yet again on their own.

Taking a deep breath and calming herself, Haruhi then turned to face her squad. "Everyone locked and loaded?"

The others nodded, with Kyon patting his gun.

"Then let's do this." Haruhi grinned as she kicked down the door that barred their path.

And so they began yet another step towards their long journey home.

"Die, groundswalker!" Yelled a distant Drone as it saw them.

"Oh, shut up!" Yelled an irritated Kyon back as he shot it's head off.