Gears of War
Dead Man's Minute
Chapter 1
Lieutenant Colonel Victor Hoffman was tired. In fact, he was beyond tired, and it had nothing to do with the fact the sun was setting. Why he'd ever let Margaret talk him into volunteering for this even though he wasn't supposed to return to mission-eligible status for another three months was beyond him, but it seemed she just went weak at the knees whenever she saw him in his uniform. Not that the other gears cared. They saw it as a sign of strength that he was back on duty. He'd been injured in a skirmish with a UIR patrol only six months after Operation Leveller and was given medical leave for a year. The round had passed clean through his shin to the point that the medic thought he'd had to lose his leg. Luckily he kept it but was supposed to be invalided out, so for him to be back in action was a definite morale booster for them, even if it was only on what amounted to a minor errand in a much bigger operation. All the gears were either standing at ease on the ready line waiting for instruction or doing push-ups with their Lancers mounted on their backs.
As Hoffman looked over them and applauded their dedication silently, he heard the rotors of a king raven as it banked round and set down off to his left. He looked over to see a detachment of Onyx Guard jumping out. Leaving his men, he walked over and approached the new arrivals, trying to bury his trepidation. Their being assigned to his squad meant either the mission just got escalated or command didn't trust his capabilities due to his injury. The joke was on them if that was the case. He'd never felt stronger in the knowledge that their actions were about to end the Pendulum Wars.
"Where's your commanding officer, trooper?" he asked one of the Onyx Guard as they all turned on seeing him arrive.
"You're Lieutenant Colonel Hoffman, I presume?" the soldier saluted him. "Colonel Loomis is on the raven. He's just berating the pilot on his flying."
"Yeah, that sounds like Ezra." Hoffman muttered. He stood and waited, hearing raised voices over the sound of the Onyx Guard checking their kit. Eventually, the man he was waiting for climbed out and walked over to him.
"Victor, good to see you!" Loomis said, saluting.
"What's your business here, Ezra?" Hoffman asked as he returned the gesture. "They usually reserve the Onyx guard for the main phase of the operation."
"Others are handling that, Victor. We'll be assisting you in the Lethia Imulsion facility with your objective while securing classified combat intel." Loomis told him.
'It's always nice when Dalyell tells me everything.' Hoffman thought sarcastically.
"Okay then, Ezra. If you and yours go stand by the ready line where my gears are about to fall in, I'll tell my gears not to get in your way." Loomis nodded in agreement and stood to attention off to the side. The other Onyx Guard moved over and fell in with him. The other gears all moved over and fell in at Hoffman's instruction. "Men, today, the COG seals the fate of every single Indie within Gorasnaya and the world over!" Hoffman declared, hating how the speech made him sound like a politician. "Today, we officially launch the Hammer of Dawn satellites into space, to begin orbital bombardment. Let's see how long these Indies can hold out while we paint their green armour red from right over their heads!" It was met with cheers and applause along with other gears slapping each other on the backs. "Now, some of you may have noticed that we have the Onyx guard with us." Hoffman held up his hand, calling for silence. "They will be assisting us with our objective while completing one of their own. Their objective is classified. Anyone I hear trying to probe for information will be on a charge on the spot! Am I clear?"
"Sir, yes sir!" Every gear saluted in unison.
"We will load up onto the packhorses and convoy to the Lethia Imulsion facility just south of here. From there, we will find and activate several key valves to provide the launch sites with fuel. We are going in because we have actionable intel that the Indies are going to try and take the facility offline so as to disable us. Now, they've been infiltrating Tyrus from the Vasgar border so it's likely they only brought a small force. Still, I'm not keen to take anything of granted, so if anyone has anything to bring to the table then now is the time. We will protect that facility at all costs! We are 26 RTI! We are the unvanquished!" The gears all cheered, but Hoffman could tell the Onyx were rolling their eyes inside their helmets. Not wanting to waste any more time, he gave the signal to the gears to load up. As soon as they were all on board, Hoffman joined them, noticing the Onyx Guard heading to a packhorse that was just arriving. It must have been called in specifically for them.
'Too fat a pay check to sit with the rest of us anymore, Ezra?' Hoffman thought bitterly to himself as the pack's rear door closed. 'You always did think your ass was made of gold.'
Author's Note: Okay, so that's the first chapter. The rest of them are much longer, I promise. Please feel free to leave a review and let me know what you think.