Hello everyone, and welcome to my first attempt at a Gears of War/Mass Effect crossover.
To be honest, I had an idea to start a Gears of War/Mass Effect crossover a couple years ago, but I really didn't know where I was going to start, or how I was going to go about doing it. After some thinking, and thanks to you all helping me improve how I write my stories, I was finally able to come up with what I think is a plausible way to start this crossover.
In addition, I've always been a major fan of the Gears of War franchise. I might not have the merchandise or the books from the series, but I've read the books and I own all of the games, save for Gears Tactics and Gears 5. It was one of the reasons why I've always wanted to write a crossover starring Gears of War and Mass Effect.
As for this chapter, this is the pilot chapter of that crossover. Any info and feedback on how to help get this story off the ground would be appreciated. Any ideas on how to improve the crossover as chapters come out would also be deeply appreciated.
As such, leave a review, and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Gears of War or Mass Effect franchises. They are the respective properties and trademarks of Microsoft Studios, The Coalition, Epic Games, BioWare, Electronic arts, etc. Any material original to the franchises belongs to their respective developers and publishers. Any material not original to the franchises is of my own invention. I do not own any music listed in each chapter. Any music listed belongs to it's original composers and/or artists.
Near New Ephyra
Anya's Estate
20 AE
The yard outside of the estate was quiet, with nary a sound, aside from the wind, echoing in the area. The nearby oak tree gently swayed in the breeze, while leaves that had been falling onto the ground were swept into the air. A nearby fence served as a barrier against falling into the nearby stream, which swiftly flowed under a rock bridge and to lands unknown.
The peace was appreciated by more than one being that was out here. Sitting in a chair near the entrance of the small wood shack that he'd built over the years, Marcus Michael Fenix was calmly reading a book. It was a good story, one that never failed to have him engrossed in it's contents. This was partly due to the fact that he could relate with the struggle of each of the characters quite readily, even though they were mere works of fiction.
In my case, it was more than mere fiction, he thought to himself. His hands idly traced the scar that ran up the right side of his face. In addition, his fingers brushed the hair that was growing rapidly from the skin beneath. If one were to look at Marcus, they would've found that the goatee that he normally had, was starting to become an integrated part of a thick mane of hair that was attempting to grow from his cheeks, upper lip and jaw. When fully grown, it had complimented his facial features, but now, in it's half-grown state, it made him look scruffy.
The scar that his fingers ran across, though, reminded him of how hard he had fought to secure the beautiful, idyllic peace that he now had the chance to enjoy. We did it, he thought to himself. We finally achieved peace, but at what cost?
His musings were interrupted when he heard someone coming towards him. Years of having fought in the previous war allowed him to identify by sound who it was. Turning around, he watched as a young boy with blond colored hair, tanned skin, and bright green eyes came towards him. The sight of the young child brought a smile to his face, especially when he heard the child say, "Daddy!"
"Come here, JD," he smiled. Picking the child up, he said, "Ho, boy! You're starting to get heavy. Has Anya been feeding you good?"
"Yeah!" JD beamed, enthusiastic that his father was holding him. Whenever he was in Marcus' strong and hard arms, he felt safe, as though the world could not harm him in any way whatsoever. It was a comforting feeling, one that never failed to bring him warm feelings of safety. "Mommy's been wanting to get me a dog!"
"A dog?" Marcus asked. For a moment, his mind drifted back to the cause of the scar on his face, then he reminded himself that he was no longer at the Slab. "Well, we could get you a dog," he decided after a few seconds of thought "Just remember, if you get one, you have to feed it and take good care of it. Understand?"
"Yeah," JD nodded, though his father's calm, if stern, reply, did little to curb his enthusiasm. As Marcus set him down, JD quickly ran off towards the nearby garden, where a number of food plants, from carrots to potatoes, grew.
We'll need to make a greenhouse soon, he thought, remembering the various gifts that many survivors of the previous war had given him out of their gratefulness. So many plants, but not enough places to plant them. Still… it's a welcome reprieve from what I had to do in the last war.
Remembering that he had facial hair to trim, he turned and went back into the small wooden house that he'd built over the course of a few years. Walking inside, he found the nearby mirror and, picking up a razor that he'd salvaged from a ruin, began to shave himself. It wasn't long, before the goatee was the only facial hair left on his face. While not vain, Marcus did the best to maintain himself, the way a weapon was to be cleaned and maintained in order to do it's duty.
He was about to grab a pair of weights and exercise when he heard another voice call his name. "Marcus? How's my husband today?" Turning around, Marcus beheld the face of the woman that had called for him.
She was just a little shorter than he was, with blond hair adorning her head, along with beautiful green eyes, and skin that seemed to glow a healthy tan color. Her figure was beautiful, as though she'd been fashioned by the greatest silversmiths of the Era of Silence. Marcus, however, knew who this woman, the person he loved more than any other in this life, was: Anya.
Walking over, he hugged her, doing his best to ensure that the strength that he possessed did not harm her in any way. "I'm doing fine," he replied.
"The nightmares again?" Anya asked. Marcus merely nodded, prompting her to frown, though she never left his side. "They'll fade with time. Besides, you shouldn't be blamed for what happened that day."
"I know," Marcus agreed. "It's hard to shake the memories, though, of the values we compromised, of the things we've done… but now that I look at the future we are now enjoying, I've realized that it's a good one. There might not be a place for a man like me anymore… but I'd much rather have this peace, than what we had just a few years ago."
"Spoken like a true Fenix," Anya beamed. Looking outside, she could see her son JD playing with a small bird that was finding him to be quite entertaining, what with his squeals of delight and all. "You think we ought to get a pet for JD? I was thinking of getting him a dog, though I wanted to check in with you first, especially since we know where you got that scar."
"It'll be alright," Marcus relented. "Just remember to train the dog well. I don't want what happened to me to happen to JD." He motioned to his scar to underscore the point.
"That we will," Anya agreed. "That we will."
. . .
The next few minutes were spent cleaning up the small shack, and making sure that all was well with the garden and all. That, however, prompted Marcus to head to a smaller wood shack that was near the middle of the property. Walking up to it, he frowned as he hesitated for a moment, before unlocking the door and walking inside.
To most, it would've resembled a small armory. Here, ammo crates of varying sizes could be found, from small boxes that held pistol ammunition, to large boxes capable of holding shells that might've fit in artillery pieces at some point. A few racks were present, with one having a few chains looped around the strong wood beams.
It was there that Marcus could see the armor that had saved his life on more than one occasion. Despite being old, it had been well maintained, with the dark grayish-black osmium alloy plates, and the Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHWMPE) underneath having been repaired or replaced at one point in time or another. The electronics inside were also well kept, along with the batteries that would power the identification lights when the armor was worn. Even the boots, leg and arm armor had been well kept.
It was the weapon inside, however, that was a good example, of why Marcus had always taken care of his equipment. While parts of the finish were wearing out, the Mark 2 Lancer that was resting in the container he'd fashioned for it still looked as deadly as ever. The magazine was currently empty, though the sight of the chainsaw bayonet was still quite comforting to him.
Opening the case's glass lid, he hefted the weapon and held it as he sat down on a wood chair in the shack. This gun has saved my life more than once, he thought as he ran a hand down it's smooth surface. I maintain whatever has saved my life more than once. Besides, it'd be a poor reward for it to just be left in here, gathering rust and all. With that, he picked up a small rag, and a bottle of cleaning solution, before going to work.
Before long, the weapon had been cleaned, with parts of the various surfaces gleaming brightly. Putting it away, he walked out, but not before he opened a nearby crate, and pulled out a bottle of whiskey. He never drank when he was around JD, and he usually waited for the alcohol to work it's way out of his system before coming close to his son, and even then, he only drank lightly, so as to remain in control of his mental and physical faculties. Today was no different.
He grimaced slightly as he took a sip of the liquid inside the bottle, with the burning sensation roiling down his throat. Dizzy certainly knows how to make a good brew, he thought to himself, before taking one more sip, and putting the bottle away. Certainly made for good selling when we needed supplies. With that thought, he put the lid back onto the crate, then closed and locked the door to the shed behind himself, leaving the memories of the Locust War behind once more.
. . .
Back at the house, Marcus was busy doing a job that most would've normally associated with women. Ever since the war had come to an end, he'd found that he'd worn through most of his clothing, a side effect of the intense use of the equipment he had during the war. To make matters worse, he'd often found that any clothing he could find was ragged and torn.
This had led him to learn a good lesson that Anya had been taught as a young woman: sewing. Sitting at a foot cranked sewing machine, he carefully guided the cloth he was working with along the path he intended. It had taken him quite a bit of time, and more than a few failed attempts, to master the art of sewing with a machine, and even more by hand. It was a rewarding experience, especially when he was able to make his own clothes.
In addition to the fact that he had more clothes now, the sewing was therapeutic in that it calmed the memories that rushed through his mind, allowing him a moments peace from the harsh memories of the Locust War. More than a few had come back to haunt him, though he'd always taken comfort that the mere presence of Anya was more than enough to banish the foul memories, and to allow him to entreat quite readily with reality.
Just as he finished the clothes that he was working on, he thought he could hear something. Listening carefully, he discerned the sound of a Mule, a type of motorcycle used by the recently reborn COG during the Locust War. "Marcus?" he heard Any ask. "You hear that?"
"Yeah," Marcus nodded, lifting his foot from the crank that operated the sewing machine. "I've got it." With that, he went into a nearby closet, and pulled out another weapon: a sawn-off shotgun that he'd salvaged from a dead Savage Drone.
His son, who was nearby, promptly hid behind Anya's legs. One of the rules that Marcus had in the house, and which had been enforced twice by a spanking, was that JD was not to touch any of the weapons in the house. The only time he could was if his father gave him permission to do so, and even then, only when he was in Marcus', or Anya's, presence. If his father got the sawn-off shotgun, it meant that they might have an uninvited guest coming over.
Striding up to the door, Marcus peered out through the small hole that allowed him to see outside. Outside, he could see the Mule, as well as the man that was getting off of it. The moment he saw the shock of dirty blond hair, along with the blue-tinted goggles, he relaxed. "All's well," he said to the duo. "It's Baird."
"Uncle Baird?" JD asked, eyes lighting up at the mention of one of Marcus' friends.
"It is," Marcus nodded. "You remember what I taught you about being around Baird?"
"To be polite and nice to him," JD recited from memory.
"Good." Putting the shotgun away, he waited for a trio of knocks to come from the door. With that, Marcus opened the door.
Despite the five years that had passed, Baird was still as good looking as ever. He was dressed in what appeared to be a leather jacket, which hid a plain white T-Shirt that he wore underneath. His pants were a blue color, though the amount of stitches in certain areas showed that it had been well worn. In addition, Marcus though that Baird's hair had receded a little, though he couldn't be certain.
Seeing Marcus wearing his doo-rag, Baird said, "Sorry I came over unannounced. They were quite insistent that I do not disturb the Minister of the COG on her only vacation. I really need to talk to you, though."
"Sure," Marcus nodded. He knew that Baird was notorious for breaking rules that he felt were inconvenient, or stupid. "Come on in. We've got some food ready in the back."
"Thank you," Baird nodded. Coming inside, he smiled when he saw JD. "Hey, JD!" he smiled. "How's my favorite little twerp doing?"
"Fine, Uncle Baird," JD replied. "Any presents today?"
"Nope," Baird replied, causing JD to appear downcast. "Though I will be bringing some more tomorrow." That caused JD to perk up immediately. A moment later, Baird seemed to remember something, as he said, "Also, Uncle Cole's coming over as well."
"Cole?" Marcus asked. The moment he said that, the door opened, revealing the man himself. Cole was a large man, courtesy of having been a Thrashball star. His dark chocolate brown skin, along with his brown eyes and hair, was more than enough to attract a lovely woman. It was his exuberant personality, though, that was his greatest appeal.
"Hey ho!" he shouted as he came inside. "The Cole Train has arrived!" Seeing Marcus, he said, "Who loves ya, baby? WHOOO!"
Laughing as he hugged Cole, Marcus said, "It's been a while Cole. How are you doing?"
"Perfectly fine," Cole beamed. "I still enjoy my job as a Thrashball coach. No one better to do it!" Spotting JD, he said, "How's my favorite tyke doing?"
"Doing fine, Uncle Cole," JD smiled. Out of all the uncles that he had, it was Cole that he liked the most, and it wasn't hard to see why.
"Wanna come out back and play a bit with me?" Cole asked. "I've got just the ball with me. I'll go easy on ya too!"
JD beamed, before shouting "Yaayyy!" With that, the two went outside, leaving Marcus, Baird and Anya behind.
Baird smiled as JD and Cole went out to the back. "He's so good with the kids," he sighed happily. "The best pick for the job."
"Agreed," Marcus nodded. Growing more serious, he said, "You said you had something to discuss with me and Anya. What is it?"
"Can we take this to the bedroom?" Baird asked. "I'd rather not do it here if I can help it."
"Sure," Marcus replied. Still, the fact that Baird wanted to be in the bedroom when they talked, indicated that it was something serious. With that in mind, he and Anya followed Baird into the bedroom of the house.
Once inside, Baird closed the window, before closing the door and locking it. "Just in case someone eavesdrops on us," he said as a passing explanation. Sitting down, he pulled out a few documents from his leather jacket and said, "Remember some of the experiments the COG did before they temporarily shut down?"
Hearing that, Marcus frowned immediately. The Coalition of Ordered Governments, or COG, had done quite a few experiments during, and before, the war against the Locust. A memory of how one such experiment had gone wrong came up in Marcus' mind. It was a reminder to him, of the deeds that men that lacked the kind of moral code his own father had given him, could do, deeds that would make even the Locust seem quite tame and benevolent in comparison. "Yeah, I remember," he frowned. "What about it?
"Well, I did some digging when we were at Ephyra a few months back," Baird explained. "I found this armored lockbox that some Locust tried to break into, though from the looks of it, they failed, given the dents they put in the thing. I managed to crack the safe combination, and I found a series of documents that were inside."
"What were you doing at Old Ephyra?" Any asked.
Baird shrugged, knowing that telling Anya a lie, was not wise at all. Speaking candidly, he said, "I was investigating a location that the disk that Marcus' father gave me had on it. It mentioned a lockbox that was in the House of Sovereign's basement, particularly the Classified Documents section."
Hearing that had both Marcus' and Anya's attention. Marcus' father, Adam Johnathan Fenix, was one of the foremost minds of the Coalition of Ordered Governments. A former Gear, the COG term for a soldier, Adam Fenix had a mind that was just as sharp, if not sharper, than his body was strong and healthy. It was his genius that allowed him to create the Hammer of Dawn superweapon, as well as the Imulsion Countermeasure that had allowed them to have the future they were enjoying today.
For Marcus, though, his father's memories were the only thing he had left of the man. Their relationship had been strained, but not once had he stopped loving his father, even if his father had trouble properly reciprocating that love. I miss him, he had written into his journal more than once. If I could go back in time, the one thing I'd do would be to spend more time with him.
Bringing his mind back to the present day, he recalled something that his father had done for Baird just before the activation of the Imulsion Countermeasure. Just before his death, Adam Fenix had gifted Baird a computer disk that held information on it. He could even recall his father saying, "You're a man of science, Baird. Look through this later and see what I wanted to do, and what I had to."
Anya, who also remembered those words, asked Baird, "Let me guess, it was one of the things he wanted to do?"
"More like one of the things the COG was doing." Baird clarified. Handing Anya the classified reports, he said, "I found out that the COG was testing some kind of device near Mount Kadur, the same mountain where the New Hope Research Facility is at. The documents I could recover only showed the location, not what was in there, unfortunately."
"And this has your attention because?"
"Because of the project's name: LOOKING GLASS. You remember that old story that one poet wrote? 'Through The Looking Glass?'"
"Yeah," Anya nodded, her eyes lost in thought. "It was about this girl that was able to travel through this magical mirror to -" She stopped mid-sentence. "Wait a minute. Are you saying that the COG was attempting to replicate what that mirror could do?"
"That's what I think is the case," Baird nodded. "I've only got the name to go on, but something tells me that there's more to this, especially given the name that it has." Looking the two dead in the eyes, he said, "With your permission, Minister Anya, I would like to have a team head there so that we can find out more about what's going on. This is too unusual to pass up, and I'd rather not have another secret from the old COG's besmirched past come back to bite us in the ass."
For a good minute or so, Any was silent, while Marcus processed what was going on. He knew that Baird had good reason to be concerned. The last time he had gone into a secret COG facility, he had seen the level of depravity that the operator of the place, one Dr. Niles, had done to find a 'cure' for the Rustlung that was affecting some miners the COG employed. If the name implied anything, it was that the COG was, likely, attempting to create some kind of technologically advanced transportation system. It could also be something much more mysterious than that.
His train of thought was interrupted when Anya said, "Are you certain that this is something that needs investigating immediately?"
"Yes," Baird nodded emphatically. "I wouldn't have brought it to your attention had I thought otherwise."
Another half-minute of silence, then she said, "Alright, then. If it's really as important as you think it is, then you may go and do so. On one condition."
"And that would be?"
"That my husband accompany you as well. We all know what happens when you're left unattended, and we need someone with good judgmental skills to make sure everyone comes back alive and well. Understood?"
Baird went silent for a moment. While he was a careful individual, he understood the need to have a second opinion. More than once, he'd nearly been killed when he thought something was good to go, only to have it blow up in his face, with that something having happened literally once. "Alright," he nodded, "Sounds good to me."
"Good," Anya smiled. "Now, are you up for dinner?"
"Abso-fucking-lutely," was the reply. As if it agreed with him, Baird's stomach let out a loud GROOOUUUWWLLL. "So, what's on the menu?"
. . .
A few hours later, Marcus was lying in bed next to Anya. Sleep eluded him, though it was not a secret as to what the cause was. Some part of him was protesting the fact that he was, once more, getting involved with the past, which he'd tried to leave behind as much as he could. Sure, Anya was the Minister of the new COG, but she was also his wife, and he didn't know why she had recommended him for the job.
Sitting up in bed, he began to think to himself. I'm not sure if I'd be the right pick for the job, he thought to himself. Sure, Baird needs someone to keep an eye on him, but Cole can do that just as easily, if not more so than me. The two practically grew up with each other in boot camp. I don't know him that well.
Apparently, Anya had guessed his line of thought, as she sat up and said, "Marcus, I wouldn't have picked you without a good reason. You know that, don't you?"
"I know," Marcus nodded. "I just don't know why you picked me."
"So that you can finally close this chapter in the story that is your life," Anya explained. "I noticed the look that you had when Baird mentioned what he'd found. Part of the reason why is that we can figure out what this whole 'looking glass' deal is, so that we don't have to deal with it again. That way, you and I can live in peace with each other for the rest of our lives, alongside our son. Is that too much to ask for?"
Marcus tried to find a reason why that was too much, found none whatsoever. She's right, a part of his subconscious told him. If you can deal with this whole debacle once and for all, then you won't have to worry about the old COG's past ever again. Please close this chapter of your life once and for all, for your wife's sake.
Breathing in and out, he said, "No, it's not. Just promise me that, after this, we can leave the past behind for good. OK?"
Anya smiled, took his hand into her own, and kissed him behind the cheek. "I promise." With that, the two laid back down in bed. This time, sleep came to Marcus and, for the first time since the end of the Locust War and Lambent Pandemic, it was a dreamless sleep.
. . .
The sound of the King Raven's rotor blades was mostly muted by the sliding doors that were currently locked into position by strong steel latches near the front of the troop compartment. In said compartment, Marcus was making sure his Mark 2 Lancer was ready for war, while Cole and Baird were nearby, with the two having done the same a few minutes back. Past the door into the cockpit, two COG Officers were guiding the King Raven to it's destination. Sitting behind them was the fourth member of the small expedition.
As they flew along, Marcus remembered what he had learned about Project LOOKING GLASS. While the project's purpose had, frustratingly, remained a mystery, it's location had not remained a mystery to him. The facility was in the same mountain range that Mount Kadar was located in, though it was nearly eighty kilometers away from the New Hope Research Facility. According to records, it was partially embedded into a nearby mountain, and that the only way to access it, was via helicopter.
Looking outside, he could see that the terrain down below was green, with traces of color coming from flowers in the fields. The last time I was here, it was raining, and we had to worry about Locust and Razor hail, he thought, recalling the terror that the sharp shards of hail had caused for the various members of the late Locust Horde. At least the Sun is shining today.
A moment later, he felt the helicopter slow down, before they began to orbit a particular area. "We've found the facility in question," the pilots informed the four. "Can you see anything down there?"
"Wait a second," Baird replied. "Marcus, can you see anything?" Taking the hint, Marcus looked outside the starboard window he was sitting next to.
It was then that he saw it. Jutting out from the mountain like a fungal growth on a tree was a large helipad, capable of holding two King Ravens simultaneously. They were connected to the mountain by strong steel I-beams, while a walkway proceeded towards a large vault door set into the mountain. The beams appeared to have been corroded by age, though they still looked sturdy enough to hold anything that set down on them.
"I see it," Marcus informed the pilots. "Set us down on that helipad, to the right."
"Roger that," came the reply. The turbine engine for the King Raven whined as they began to descend towards the helipad. It wasn't long, before the landing gear on the bottom of the helicopter contacted unyielding asphalt. The pilot, being cautious, gradually reduced power and was ready to throw the throttle forwards, and the control yoke backwards, in the event of a structural failure.
Fortunately, despite the old COG's deficiencies in certain areas of engineering, structural engineering wasn't an issue. As such, everyone slightly relaxed their tensed bodies once they were certain that the helipad wasn't going to collapse. "Alright, we're down," Marcus decided. "Everyone out, but be careful. These old COG facilities can have a myriad of defenses." Looking at the fourth member of the expedition, he asked, "Carmine, you ready?"
Carmine, or Clayton Carmine as he was fully known as, clambered out of the cockpit and into the troop compartment. "I'm ready," he nodded, grasping one of his favored weapons: a modified Torque Bow. With that in mind, Marcus threw open his door, allowing the others to step out.
The air was cold, despite the fact that it was the middle of spring, though the sunlight did help warm things up a bit. Now that they were closer, Marcus could see that the walkway was the most time-worn part of the structure. Somme of the railings were bent askew, and a few looked as though they were about to fall off.
"Be careful," Baird warned them as they proceeded forwards, while the King Raven took off a moment later. "Time likely hasn't been kind to this place. Five years without maintenance is too much for certain structures." As if to underscore his point, the walkway they began to walk on groaned, a loud series of metallic pops, though it still held their weight.
Equipped in full body armor, the team had to move carefully, otherwise the entire structure would collapse, and that was a fate that no one was willing to tempt. It took around two minutes, but they managed to reach the door that led deeper into the base. A keypad was nearby, though the documents held the required codes to get inside, with Baird punching them in. There was a satisfied expression on his face, as the locking mechanism disengaged with a series of muted thumping noises. Grasping the door handle, he opened the door wide.
Proceeding inside, the others found themselves entering what appeared to be a small room, likely a security checkpoint. Moving through the room and through the door on the other side, they began to navigate what appeared to be a maze with a number of hallways and rooms. Many of these rooms were empty, likely due to the fact that most everyone had managed to escape when the evacuation came.
It was when they were deeper, that the real cause of the empty rooms came into glaring view. Looking through one of the rooms, Marcus found himself entering what appeared to be a small cafeteria of some sort. Unlike the other rooms, this place was filled with desiccated skeletons, some of which wore COG body armor. Expended rifle cartridges littered the ground, making tinkling noises as he walked inside.
"What happened here?" he asked.
"My guess, they had an insurrection here," Baird shrugged. "Many of the bodies in here appear to be COG soldiers, though I can also see quite a few civilians as well, scientists and workers from the looks of it."
"Why would they rebel?" Carmine asked. "It doesn't make sense."
"Not a lot of shit does," Marcus frowned. "Let's keep moving."
Eventually, as they moved through the facility, they came to what appeared to be a map that was on a billboard. Much of the map was faded, though it showed that the facility received supplies through a ground level entrance that was accessible via roadway. In addition, there was a large chamber that was located near the core of the mountain.
"That's where we need to head to next," Baird informed them. "The place, from the looks of it, built like a U lying on it's side, with the chamber in question located at the core of the mountain. I'll bet that chamber is where we'll find out what this place does."
"Looks that way," Marcus nodded. "We don't have any lights, aside from what our flashlights give us."
"There's power here, alright," Baird reassured Marcus. "From the looks of it,this place was powered by… oh, the clever little shits. The mountain we're in is a dormant volcano. This place is powered by geothermal energy, and the engineers created venting holes that are large enough to allow the volcano to vent, without bursting it's top and killing everyone."
"Damn," Cole whistled, impressed. "Gotta hand it to the COG. They build to last."
"Sometimes," Baird shrugged. "My guess, the central chamber is located where the volcano's central lava vent is, though they probably had to suspend it in mid-air."
"Then that's where we're going," Marcus decided. With that, they began to head to the central chamber.
True enough, the actual chamber for the facility was located in the central magma vent for the dormant volcano. Looking down as he crossed a walkway, Marcus saw, much to his surprise, the reddish-orange glow of magma down below the walkway he was on. Situated around two kilometers below him were massive tunnels that appeared to travel upwards at an angle.
As for the chamber itself, it was suspended in the air by a combination of thick, strong cables, and solid steel girders that were mounted into the walls of the central magma vent itself. Gotta give the COG credit for it's overblown designs, he thought to himself. Never thought they'd pull something like this off. Catching up to Baird, who was standing near another door, he asked, "How's it going?"
"Putting in the codes now," Baird replied. "If all goes well, we should be -" Just as he said this, the door popped open, allowing them to go inside. "Good," he finished lamely, much to Carmine's amusement, if the chuckle was anything to go by.
After passing through another security checkpoint, and what appeared to be a decontamination chamber, they found themselves entering what appeared to be a control room of some kind. Rows of computers were present, while overlooking what appeared to be a large chamber that was behind a massive steel door. Spotting a familiar interface, Baird said, "JACK, plug in and see what you can learn."
A moment later, there was a shimmer in the air, as a robot that a large central body, and two spindly arms, appeared out of thin air. Hovering over towards a nearby console, the robot plugged itself into the interface, before it began spinning up the systems.
"Here we go," Baird beamed. "Wow. That's not good."
"What is it?" Marcus asked.
"My guess about an insurrection was correct. A group of COG soldiers decided to try and muscle their way into this operation, but the base commander wasn't having any of it. He infected the computers with an adaptive, semi-sentient computer virus of some kind."
"Can JACK get around it?" Marcus asked. In answer, the computers turned back on, with lights coming on in the room. Rows of computer screens displayed information, as though the machines were eager to have their human counterparts tell them what to display.
"Jack can get around anything," Cole beamed. "A little computer virus ain't gonna stop him."
"Now I can find out what this place was used for," Baird nodded. Looking through the files, he whistled as he came across a few. "Well, looks like the term 'looking glass' was more literal to these guys than I thought."
"How so?" Marcus asked.
"It turns out, they found out how to create what appears to be stable Worstein-Roken Bridges. For those of you that don't speak scientist, that's a wormhole, a bridge from one point in space-time to another. My guess is that the COG was determining how to use them for transportation from point A to point B. If we had that kind of tech during the war, we wouldn't have needed to use Grindlifts to get to the Inner Hollow."
That was a surprise to Marcus. The COG was experimenting with wormholes and that shit as a means of transport? It was so mind-boggling that, for a moment, he thought that he was dreaming. What happened next, though, drove him from that line of thought.
Without warning, the doorway to the chamber opened, while doors in the ceiling opened up. "Baird?" Carmine asked. "What's going on?"
"Aw shit!" Baird groaned. "We've triggered some kind of security system! There are turrets getting ready to blow us to hell!"
"Oh, hell no!" Cole shouted. "They think they can stop the Cole Train?! I'm a force of nature!"
Marcus frowned. He now knew that their options were very limited, and neither of the two he could see were good. On the one hand, staying inside of the control room would allow them to stay away from the device, though it would expose them to the security systems. On the other hand, if they fled to where the device was at, they could avoid being killed, but he didn't know what awaited them on the inside.
A moment later, the turrets put that answer to rest. Deploying out of the doors in the ceiling, the turrets fired, spewing lead at the Gears, who threw themselves behind a barrier of concrete that was just in front of the door. Chunks of concrete were gouged out by armor piercing rounds, while the Gears fired back whenever they could.
"You've gotta be fucking kidding me!" Baird shouted. "My rounds are just bouncing off the armor those turrets have!" As he said this, he had to duck into cover, with a spray of bullets zipping through where his head used to be.
"Shit, man!" Cole shouted. "Our cover's being eroded away! If anyone's got a better idea, now's the time."
Marcus, spotting the rapidly degrading concrete barrier, muttered, "Aw, shit!" Looking at the others, he said, "Everyone into the chamber now! It's our only option!"
"The door up ahead is locked!" Carmine shouted. "My Torque Bow's only pissing the turrets off! We need to move now!"
With that, despite the hailstorm of bullets zipping towards them, the team quickly moved towards the central chamber as fast as they could. Marcus grunted as a bullet ricocheted off of the right shoulder pauldron for his armor. He was the first one into the chamber, with Cole, Baird and Carmine quickly following.
Inside the chamber was a large device, which resembled a three fingered claw that was curled in on itself. The base had a large metal platform, over which was the strangest phenomena that Marcus had seen. It was like time and space around a point four feet above the ground had been warped, with light closest to the point becoming bent around a seemingly invisible sphere. He couldn't see what was on the other side, though he had a guess that it was to somewhere else on Sera.
His thoughts were interrupted, however, when more turrets inside of the chamber deployed. Realizing that they were about to be pumped full of lead, he made his choice. "Aw shit!" he groaned. "Everyone to the center of the platform!"
"Are you fucking insane!?" Baird shouted in disbelief. "We don't know where the hell that leads!"
"It's better than being gutted alive by automated defenses!" Marcus shouted.
"For once, I agree with Baird!" Carmine shouted. "This is fucking insane, but we don't have a choice!"
"Time to go, Baird!" Cole shouted.
"Fuck!" Baird groaned. "I'm definitely gonna regret this." With that, they ran as fast as they could, with Marcus jumping into the strange spatial anomaly at the same time as Cole, Baird and Carmine. In an instant, he was blinded by an intense pain in his entire body, then he knew no more.