Author's Note: Before this chapter even begins with the ass kickery, I would like to extend a massive thanks and shout out to fellow Gears of War author Fire Kunai who was kind enough to recommended this story to their own readers (and for saying that my pen name was awesome lol, thanks for that again FK!) along with unworthy praise of being one of the "one of the best GoW action writers on the site". You are too kind in your words my friend towards this humble novice of a writer :) thank you very much!
I would also like to extend the same courtesy that Fire Kunai extended me by saying this - GO READ GEARS OF WAR 2: CRIMSON CROSS! GO DO IT NOW! YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED, I PROMISE! Great story telling, a very well crafted original character, and a wonderful take on the event of GoW2.
Fire Kunai, again, thank you for your kind words and for recommending my story to others. I really do appreciate it :)
Chapter Seven
The Bigger They Are...
He who fights with monsters should take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you. - Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil
"Holy shit! BRUMAK!" Baird's voice announced the obvious and Delta scrambled for cover in a matter of a split second.
The earth shuddered and groaned beneath the massive body of the ten thousand (and possibly plus) kilogram weighing gargantuan monstrosity that lumbered its way up the street with jaws a gap and glistening in the dull grimy light of the day. Its deafening roar was something akin to two giant pieces of metal scraping harshly against one another in a low rumble that vibrated the air itself. It hadn't even been a decent ten minutes since the end of the first firefight for Delta to gain some recovery time before the Brumak pushed itself up out of the earth with another wave of Locust Drones threading about its feet. As soon as the squad of four hit cover, Marcus had two fingers pressed to his Tac/Com and bellowed above the roar of exchanged fire as the fight had started.
"CONTROL! CONTACT BETA SQUAD! WE'RE PINNED DOWN BY A BRUMAK AND RENEFORCEMENTS! WE NE – !"
Marcus was cut off instantly by the sudden bellow of the Brumak as the walking war machine threw its long muscle and heavy weapon laden arms up over its head, thick fingers groping at its helmet covered head in a hurried and almost frantic manner. Something was incredibly strange about the whole sight, so much so that Marcus stared in stunned silence rather than finish his call-in for backup via the only other squad that may or may not be in the area. Staring at the howling Brumak with utter confusion furrowing his brow, the sergeant watched as the underworld-born creature thrashed its head about for all but four seconds before a rather furious explosion blistered from its uncovered muzzle. A spray of blood and matter flew through the air, the Brumak screamed... literally screamed as the front of its face was nearly blown off to the point of even going up underneath the helmet it wore.
Blinking wide with jaw slightly dropped, Marcus lost all train of thought after witnessing what seemed goddamn near impossible. The firefight that erupted from either side – human and Locust – stopped almost instantly as all eyes turned upwards towards the flailing Brumak that had just been wounded. The confidence that the Drones fought under with the Brumak leading the brunt of the charge on the humans was now a fragile thing cracking as their prized trump card bled out upon them.
"Wow... what the hell just happened to that thing?" Dominic Santiago stared with rather wide eyes and the same look of confusion that Marcus bore.
"Who cares?" Baird broke in suddenly while reloading a new clip into his Lancer, the blonde near seething as he knew they were running very low on ammo now. "It could be God himself for all I care, so long as that ugly ass fucker goes down!" He shouted above the renewed fire that poured in on their location as the Locust seemed to have snapped back to attention out of their momentary dumbfounded stupor.
Hawx pulled the trigger on the Longshot for what was hopefully the last time as the several remaining Drones were now in full retreat. Looking away from the the reticle of the sniper rifle, Hawx blew out the deep inhale that had been taken to steady both heart rate and body as the final shot was taken, the spent air sounding like a low hiss that only the sniper could hear inside of the helmet. While satisfied with the fact that the Drones had basically been slaughtered and scraps were in retreat, Hawx never once pried that steady gaze from the battlefield, especially as one Gear from Delta squad was now tearing across the empty street towards the former Locust barricade. Watching in slight amusement, Hawx couldn't help but smirk as the Gear tossed a bulo after the Drones, the explosion crippling a straggler and leaving it crawl pathetically after its comrades that didn't dare turn to help it. The amusement that Hawx found was momentary as in a matter of seconds the helmet's binocular view-plate zoomed in on a Drone that suddenly stopped while the others continued to run.
The sniper's whole body tensed and on instinctive reflex Hawx was lining up the shot before the Drone even lifted its Hammerburst and aimed at the Gear that chainsawed through the fallen Drone. Like hell Hawx was going to let one of Delta's Gears suddenly drop dead after the firestorm they had been through not more than a minute ago. Before the Gear was aware of what was going on, or the Drone realizing its own life was at an end, Hawx pulled the trigger. The silent ping of the round leaving the chamber out through the silencer at the end of the muzzle was the only sound Hawx barely heard before pulling back from the punched out hole in the wall that had served as a window to the enemy position. Pushing up out of the sprawled position on the floor and into a relaxed crouch, Hawx sat back on his heels and rested the Longshot across the tops of his knees. The helmet suddenly felt suffocating, and in a rare moment that Hawx only experienced far and few between after high intensity stress, the sniper was tempted to remove the all encompassing helmet that served as a back-up weapon more than actual protection. A temptation that was all but annihilated by the sudden tremor that shook the small bit of world, the sniper's eyes widening suddenly as horrendous memories danced at the forefront of the mind in a flash. The high shrieking sound of metal, the muted whomp of chopper blades, the streak of panic – it all came rushing back to the sniper like a nightmarish shock wave, reality bitch-slapping Hawx with the god awful bellow of the beastly war machine ripping through that small strip of street.
The building that Hawx had camped up in shook briefly, small slips of debris falling through the cracks in the ceiling while small chunks of concrete bounced and pattered across the floor. Scrambling to get back up into a kneeling position and hoisting the Longshot up to use its scope, Hawx felt every breath taken come as a sharp inhale as the scope bounced momentarily with the shake of a tremor. Glancing away from the scope, helmet view-plate zooming in on the hellish beast strapped and chained with massive weapons of Locust design, several thoughts raced through Hawxs' mind at that moment – one, even with as great a shot as Hawx was there was no way a Longshot round was going to take down a Brumak; two, it didn't matter if that thing was the same one that annihilated Omega Squad or not it was going down; three, there was a Torque Bow held on the back of Hawxs' waist by the magnetic clamp. The sniper's eyes flew wide at the end of the last thought, the Longshot nearly falling to the ground as Hawx scrambled to snatch the Locust weapon up. There so no second thought, nothing near the gesture of hesitation, as Hawx loaded one of the explosive bolts and aimed the weapon at the Brumak with the accurate HUD system of the helmet working on the aim as a detached scope.
The Brumak's face twitched this way and that, searching out the humans it had been ordered above ground to kill. Hawx followed the creature's movement with a steady gaze, breathing came slower and steadier as Hawx sought to quell a racing heart as the sights aligned and the only uncovered vulnerable part of the Brumak was picked out. With one long inhale, Hawx felt tension ooze out of every pore and muscle,the slowed beat of the heart now giving a timer. On the in between silence from one beat to the other, Hawx pulled the trigger. In seconds the explosive head was gone, embedding itself within the Brumak's muzzle and then exploding with such tenacious violence that it almost startled the Gear for a second before instinct kicked back in. Muscle memory drove the sniper towards a reload; the Brumak didn't stand a chance now, and what normally seemed impossible to do was about to become the greatest achievement in the sniper's life.
A loud boisterous laugh lifted up even in the midst of their fight for survival, it rang almost as loud as the Lancer fire. "Whoo! Yeah baby!" Augustus "The Cole Train" Cole whooped as he popped up from behind the cement barricade he had tucked himself behind with the appearance of the Brumak. "Blow that bitch's face off! Haha!" He shouted while opening fire on the enemy Locust that were attempting push in on the squad.
Marcus rolled his eyes before peeking out from behind cover to watch as the Brumak thrashed about, arms flailing in every direction as if trying to clobber the unseen enemy that had struck a rather deadly blow to it. Each erratic swing struck the side of a building on either hand of the street, punching through cement and reinforced steel as if they were cardboard and string. One building buckled as it was popped in an already weakened spot, the once six-story place of business became a pile of misshapen rubble as the Brumak continued its tantrum. The falling debris crushed several Drones, others were struck and knocked off their feet from the tsunami like wave of dust that blew up in a second from the demolition.
"TAKE COVER!" Marcus bellowed as he through himself down and up against the upturned hunk of street he and Dom had been forced behind at the start of the firefight.
As the dust cloud rolled in towards Delta Squad, the high pitched whistle of something cutting through the air with a great amount of speed forced all four sets of eyes to turn upwards, blinking rapidly against the invading dust and grim that sought to blind their sight in the first place. None of them had seen it, but from the direction of the sound, they were relieved to know that it had passed over them into the direction of the Brumak and Drones. With vision poor, Delta still peeked out from behind cover with squinted eyes directed towards the seething Brumak as it grunted and snarled with its mangled face dripping untold fathoms of blood from the shredded laces of flesh and muscle that dangled from what hadn't been blown off. The behemoth seemed to calm for a moment, breathing heavy ragged breaths as it tried to get a sense of balance again only to have its nerves upended with the tell-tale whining tick of a grenade echoing deafly in its hearing.
With utter terror mixed rage, the Brumak snarled in frustration before whipping about in a circle to locate the device that was seconds from detonation. However, its mission was utter failure as the last second ticked by in that eerie silence proceeding the following blast that thundered loudly through the battle ravaged streets. A long mournful wail lifted from the Brumak as it teetered on its legs from side to side, the eye lights on its helmet darkened as thick black smoke brewed up from beneath the metal in boiling clouds accented by the flowing rivers of crimson that poured down and sloshed across the dust covered pavement in a morbid puddle around its feet. The Drones that were still on their feet had all but ceased firing as they turned to stare wide-eyed and shocked as their main force of power against the humans they sought to slaughter, now gurgled its last breath before falling forward with the pull of gravity and the push of the massive weight that it carried upon its back in weaponry. A few were far to dumbfounded at what they were seeing to register that fact that the hulking mass of firepower and muscle was now coming down upon them until it was too late to scramble away.
There was a dull thud that rocked the ground in the wake of impact, and for a few unearthly quiet seconds, neither side moved to continue its battle for supremacy (and in the case of the Gears, survival). It wasn't until Cole's rumbling voice carried up from building laughter into an all out victory cry that the fighting resumed. With the Brumak dead, the upper hand now rested with the Gears of Delta Squad that let loose a hellstorm of Lancer fire and bolo grenades that wiped out of the remaining Locust rather easily.
Marcus grunted as he pushed himself out from cover and took a step forward as the last Drone hit the street pavement. "The hell Beta ain't got a sniper on their team." He grumbled under his breath while pressing two fingers to his Tac/Com to radio in to Control.
There was a satisfaction that came with watching the Brumaks' face become nothing more than shredded meat, a twisted glee in watching the fell creature sway and groan like some whipped dog before it ultimately met it's fate as it sunk to the ground with a shuddering boom. For a brief and very rare moment, Hawxs' lips curved upwards beneath the helmet, glee almost taking over when normally the sniper refused to allow pride or smugness overtake oneself at the end of a battle won. The sniper had been trained, taught, to be vastly different than a normal foot soldier but for that small fraction of time Hawx felt a strong satisfaction. A satisfaction that came in knowing that in some way, somehow, the deaths of Omega Squad had been in a way avenged. The sniper folded the Locust weapon back into its compact state, setting it back on the magnetic clamp while pushing off the ground out of the kneel against the window. Inhaling a long breath while rolling both shoulders to work out the stiffness, Hawx clicked open the Tac/Com link to Sgt. Bartlet and Beta Squad.
"Sir, mission accomplished. Delta is now in the clear. ETA to your position," The sniper hesitated as the broadband antenna and GPS scan of the helmet's HUD kicked in and spit out the location of Beta to the current location, "Fifteen minutes sir, unless you would rather start moving towards Jacinto and rendezvous at a tear point." Hawx was already winding a path out of the building, moving through a maze of wreckage that seemed more difficult to exit than the original entrance had been.
"Roger that Hawx, proceed towards direction of Jacinto, we'll rendezvous at the tip of the city." Bartlet's voice scratched over the Tac/Com.
"Copy that sir, Hawx out."
Marcus bit back a growl as Anya once again affirmed that Beta Squad didn't have a sniper in their ranks. "Anya, that can't be right; whoever was backing us up and took down that Brumak had to be a fucking sniper! No regular Gear has that kind of sure shot and accurate aim, fuck even with a mortar gun it took me and Dom a hella of a time to take one of those fuckers down on our own, and this Brumak was dropped in less than twenty minutes!"The sergeant all but snarled into his Tac/Com at the blonde intelligence officer back in Jacinto HQ.
"I'm sorry Marcus," Anya returned curtly, obviously offended by the Gears' attitude with her at the moment, "But all COG records and squad listings state that Beta Squad – under the command of Sgt. Bartlet – does not have a known sniper in their numbers." There was a pause in the conversation as Anya had found something that caught her attention within field records of the moving Gear squads out on patrol or in active missions. "Marcus, there was a report that came in a few days ago concerning Omega Squad. The squad came under heavy ambush and during an attempted EVAC the whole unit plus the crew of the King Raven were killed. Omega did have a sniper." Again the intelligence officer paused, a noticeable static cutting in as interference was once again resuming. The timing of the static interference came just as Anya spoke up again, "...lene Hawx... ga squad.. unconfirmed repo... rry Marcus, too much interf-f-f-f-ference... ill you in.. ater!"
The line cut off with an abrupt screech that bled into a distorted fuzz before going completely dead. Marcus' brow furrowed deeply as he shook his head and hefted his Lancer up into both hands. His steely blue-eyed gaze met the curious looks of his squad mates, each one expecting some sort of relay in information that they assumed their sergeant had for them. Exhaling a sigh that came out as a rough grunt, Marcus merely motioned with a stiff jerk of his head for them to move out. Baird huffed loudly and threw up his hands while Cole merely shrugged and slapped his blonde friend on the shoulder as they started walking again. Dom smirked at Baird's small tantrum from behind as Delta began their hike out of the desolate ruins of the city, but couldn't help but cast a glance over at his friend who remained focused n staring ahead of them rather than striking up a conversation.
Whatever. Dom rolled his eyes and slung his Lancer over his shoulder to the magnetic clamp on his back. They had a long hike back to Jacinto ahead of them and the Latino would rather keep arguments and flaring tempers at a minimum seeing as how they just escaped straight out of death's undeniable approach upon their lives.