Chapter 3
It was 7:30am when Baird woke up. Every time he woke up he would still felt tired, but today he felt different. He elf energized, more energized then before; probably the fact that he, Alice and the others are going to finally work on the "Unknown Machine" and learn what it can do.
He got out of bed and began to stretch his muscles. After several minutes of stretching he started to fix his bed. It took him not that long and after he was done he heard a knock on the door.
He went over and opened the door and it was Alice on the other side. She had a smile on her face.
"Morning Baird." She told him. She seems to be in a happy mood this morning, either she is happy about working on the machine, or happy to see Baird.
Baird stood by the door and looked at Alice. She wore her lab coat unbuttoned, and underneath it was a grayish black shirt. She wore a light purplish skirt that reached up to her mid legs. And lastly, she wore a pair of high heel that reached up to her mid shins.
Baird greeted her. "Morning to you too." He began. "Why are you up early?" He asked. Usually she would be awake around 8:30am to 9.
Alice replied. "Oh because I wanted to wake up early so we can get the day started early." She replied with a smile.
Baird leaned against the entrance of the door, arms crossed.
"Hmm hmm." He replied. "You sure that's the only reason why your up early?" He questioned her.
Baird wasn't the type to question people; he prefers to be direct. But there was something that kept bugging him when Alice was around him.
The dark blue haired scientist was beginning to get nervous. Has he figured out that she likes him?
'Come on Alice, think of something.' She thought to herself.
After a few seconds of silence Alice responded.
"Of course thats the reason that's the only reason. Why would there be another reason?" She said, giving him a sly smile.
The blond Gear looked at her for a moment. He knew that there was something else that she was hiding. But for now he would let it go.
"Alright." He told her. Let me shower first and we're off." He told her.
She nodded.
"Oh alright then." She said and walked away. Baird looked at her for a second before closing the door.
Alice heard the door closed and sigh. She came so close to being caught and was relieved that Baird didn't notice a thing. She went to the end of the hallway and gazed at the window.
She could see the beautiful blue ocean; and in the distance she could also see several small mountains, also big ones too. The sun could be seen just over the horizon, it was giving off a radiant yellow glow. There were several clouds covering the morning sky; birds could be seen flying.
Right now she is in thought about what is going to happen today. What she is more interested in, besides trying to get close to Baird, was to work on the "special" project. She wonders what it could do.
She heard the elevator come from her right.
"Excuse me ma'am." Alice turned away from her view and saw Henry standing there.
Henry was a scientist and part of Baird's team. He was in his late twenties; he has tan skin and short cut brown hair. His eyes were greenish and has a light beard.
He wore a opened lab coat, grey pants and old brown shoes.
He works on keeping updates on whatever Baird decides to work on. From weapons to medicine, Henry always keeps Baird posted on incase of any changes. But he also reports to Alice incase Baird is either busy or unavailable, unless if it's extremely important.
Right now he has something very important and startling news about the machine.
"Yes Henry? What is it?" Alice told him.
He looked at her. "Ma'am I need to speak to professor Baird immediately. It's urgent." He told her in seriousness. From the tone of his voice, he sounded almost terrified.
Alice caught this and told him. "I'm sorry Henry but Baird is in the shower. How urgent is it?" She told him.
The young scientist took a deep breath and said: "If he doesn't see these, we might die." That made Alice's blood ran cold. But she wasn't convinced.
"Are you sure? Because we haven't worked on it for months." She asked him.
"I know ma'am, but recently we've been keeping a track on it and it started to emit something."
Alice had a questioning look on her face.
"What do you mean 'emit' something?" She said.
"Yes ma'am, it started to release electromagnetic energy about three days ago. Here." He gave her the clip board with the analysis.
The blue haired scientist took it and began looking through them. She looked over them for two minutes; her eyes went wide.
"Are you sure these are accurate?" She asked him after looking over them.
Henry nodded. "Yes ma'am and here are recent reports that were taking about an hour ago." He handed her the reports.
She tooked them and began looking over them. She didn't like what she saw.
"This can't be right." She said quietly.
"Ma'am, I believe that the weather might have something to do with this." Henry told her.
Alice looked at him. "What do you mean?" She asked him.
The young man cleared his throat before answering.
"Well it's a theory but maybe after so long of fighting, the vapors, smoke, chemicals, everything that the Pendulum Wars, the Locust War, the Hammer of Dawn CounterAttack, and the Lambent Pandemic has done to the planet, especially the atmosphere…" He closed his eyes, gathering his thoughts before saying what he was going to say next.
Alice looked at him and before she asked him if he was alright, he opened his eyes. The look that Henry sent a cold chill down her spine.
"I believe that the planet has begun to deteriorate." He said in a dead straight tone; almost emotionless.
Alice looked at him with shock. The planet Sera; the planet that they live on, what they call home, what they have gone through, nearing escaping extinction, is dying.
The female scientist took a step back and shook her head. "No no no, this can't be real." She said in almost a loud tone.
Henry looked at here, trying to calm her down. "Ma'am, this is a possibility but we still need to run more test to make sure. But this is just a theory." He told her. But he too, hopes that his theory is not true but this is still to soon to be answered.
After Alice calmed down by taking a few deep breaths, she asked him another question.
"Okay Henry but what does the weather have to do with the machine emitting electromagnetic energy?" She was still not sure how the weather is affecting the machine.
The man answered. "Because the weather is able to create electrical storms, known as thunderstorms, you know. And are able to charge a couple of electronic things like batteries, equipment, maybe a house or a few buildings; if giving the right charging equipment."
"And since we discovered how to recharge our vehicles during a thunderstorm, use that to power Azura." He told her.
Alice remembered that on how to fuel up CUBs vehicles without using harmful fuel and using that same technology to power up the island during a thunderstorm.
"Well we did had a thunderstorm a week ago so that must what started to the machine to act like how it is right now." She stated.
"Exactly." Commented Henry. "But there's more." He said.
Alice looked at him.
"I fear that when Adam Fenix activated the Imulsion CounterWeapon, the radiation from that must have affected the weather, amplifying it." He said in a distress tone.
Alice was slightly taken back. "Wait, if the radiation from the CounterWeapon affected the weather and amplifying it….."
"and the fact that the weather system has all ready been affected by decades of warfare and infection…." Stated Henry.
"and thunderstorm that we just had….. oh no." Finished Alice.
Then there was a large boom that shook the entire Pinnacle Tower.
"What was that?" Shouted a staff member, who was knocked to the ground.
Alice looked at the hallway and saw several of the team knocked down.
Then there was another boom. Only this time it was louder and stronger
*BOOM*
This one was heard throughout the island.
"What the hell is going?" Shouted Baird, who was out of his room, fully geared up.
"It's the machine sir." Henry said. "I'll tell you….." He never got to finished when the alarms came on.
"Attention! Attention! All personal evacuate the Pinnacle Tower immediately. I repeat, all personal evacuate the Pinnacle Tower immediately." Baird recognized the voice over the intercom.
"Donneld is that you?" He said through his earpiece.
After a few seconds a voice came through his earpiece.
"Yes it is, is that you Baird?" Said Mathieson. It's been a good while since he heard from Baird.
"Yeah it's me." He told him. "But we can talk socially later, what the hell is going on?" Baird told him through the earpiece. He wanted to see how Donneld was doing with the prosthetic legs Baird made for him. But right now this was more important.
"Okay but I will make this quick because I need to assist the others." He told him.
"Alright but hurry." Baird told him.
"Okay. There has been strange activity going on at the top of the Pinnacle Tower. Some strange electromagnetic pulses coming from there." Donneld told him.
Baird stayed quite and what he was talking about must be referring to the machine. Alice and Henry could hear the conversation.
"Not only that but the weather seems to be acting weird as well." Donneld said.
"Like what." Baird asked him.
"Well the weather….." The line was cut off.
"Donneld? DONNELD?" Baird yelled back. There was nothing but static. "Shit, comms must be down." He said.
Baird then looked at the distress team, who started to panic and gather the equipment.
"Everyone listen." He told them out loud. The crowd stopped what they were doing and looked at their leader. Alice and Henry looked at him as Baird spoke.
"Okay everyone, first things first: calm the hell down." He told them. Everyone stopped what they were doing and listened. "Okay gather everything that we've done and head towards the underground safe bunker. For those who don't know it is underneath this tower. Now go!" He told them.
The staff complied and began to pack up.
"Baird we have something to tell you." Alice told him softly.
The blond Gear looked at her. "What is it?" He asked. From the way she told him, it must be serious.
The blued haired woman took a deep breath and answered.
"We have disturbing news." She told him grimly.
Baird didn't like where this was going.
"What kind of news?" He asked?
It was then that Henry spoke. "Sir I just came back from the roof where the machine is at. Here." He handed him the analysis.
Baird took them and began scanning them through. After a few minutes he looked a Henry in disbelief.
"You sure this is correct? Because if they are then we have a serious problem here." He told him.
The man nodded. "Yes sir. They were taken an hour ago. And here are the reports." He said and handed him the reports.
Baird took them and read them. As he read them Henry continued.
"The machine began to emit electromagnetic energy. And I believe that…"
"The weather has to do something with this right?" Baird cut him off and finished what Henry was about to say.
Both scientists were surprised.
"H-how did you know?" Asked Henry. How could Baird know what he was going to say? It was as if Baird knew what was the problem.
Baird looked at him. "Because I knew something was up with the weather. Ever since Adam deployed the weapon, there was a shift, a change in the weather." He told him.
"Last month…" He continued. "Hoffman contacted me and told me that something was wrong with the climate because Anvil Gate has been experiencing some strange weather behavior."
"He was the one who told me to build the weather device to monitor how bad the weather is." He concluded.
Henry and Alice were silent after what Baird told them.
Henry spoke.
"Sir, thee is sill more." He told his superior.
Baird looked at him. "Like what?" He questioned.
Henry took a deep breath before answering.
"It's a theory but the weapon Adam activated must have amplified the weather system due to the radiation that the device released. That and after decades of fighting the Pendulum Wars, the Locust War, the Hammer of Dawn, the Lambent Pandemic; all the vapors, smoke, chemicals, everything that has happened. Sir I believe that Sera is in the beginning of deterioration." He finished grimly.
Baird was thinking what Henry told him. All in all it does make sense, but there is something that, if Baird is right, then this would make this whole situation worse.
Alice, who remained silent during the whole thing, was nervous. She knew that if was a possibility that Henry's theory might be true, but wishes that it wasn't.
But what Baird was about to say next made Alice's heart sank.
"You might be right Henry." Baird said.
"W-what? What makes you think I am?" The young man asked. He stared at the blonde man with a confused look.
"Because what you just said makes sense. With the radiation making the weather unstable, the many years of killing each other and a living parasitic life form invading the planet, it does make sense. And that not's all." Baird was going to tell them what he learned before.
Both scientists were waiting for their leader to continue. Henry wonders what else could it be? Has he missed something? Or was there more to it?
Alice too, was anxious and nervous about what Baird was going to tell them.
The Gear took a deep breath before talking.
"What I learned from the data disk Adam gave me, is that 2000 years ago, before the Pendulum Wars, humanity was engaged with each other. This was known as The Age of Armageddon". He told them.
"What else happened during that time?" Alice asked.
"From what I found, was that humanity was a war with each other. The reason is that there is no reason; the cause is unknown, but believe it or not, that watt almost destroyed Sera". Finished Baird.
Alice and Henry remained quite, shocked at why they've been told. That Sera had almost come to an end over two thousand years ago and there was no motive, no explanation, no was what startled the two scientists.
However, there was something that didn't make sense.
"But how did early man nearly destroyed Sera?" Questioned Henry. "Because it doesn't' make sense on how that early humans were able to nearly destroy the planet; they had no weapons of mass destruction, or anything of the sort".
"Thats the thing", said Baird. "I don't know".
"How can you knot know? There has to be something". Henry questioned.
Baird shrugged."All I know is that they used chariots, swords, catapults, stuff like that. But WMDs or nothing". He told them.
"Although." Baird wondered. "The catapults and the fires that went on centuries ago; all that smoke could have affected the stability of Sera's atmosphere and effecting the weather system. But its a theory, but I'm convinced that's the cause."
"But we can discuss that later, but right now lets focus on what's going on right now." He told them. Both of them nodded.
"Alright." Alice said.
"Ok, we can solve this later then." Henry said.
Baird nodded and grabbed the weather device that was on the desk and put it in his backside pocket. He also grabbed the data disk nearby and all three left the lab.
As they headed towards the elevator there was another laud boom. Only this time it was more powerful; the windows from the top floors were shattered.
*BOOOM*
"Shit! It's getting worse."Said Baird, the others agreed.
"Baird do you copy?" The Gear recognized that voice. He arched for his earpiece and pressed it.
"Donneld is that you?" He asked. He stopped running.
Henry and Alice heard Baird talk and stopped running. They both looked at Baird, who stopped running. They wondered who he was talking to.
It's been almost 4 months since Baird heard from him since he's been away with Hoffman to help with the coms at Anvil Gate.
"Yeah it's me." He replied. "We can catch up later, but right now things are getting worse out here." He told him in a worried tone.
"Wait, your outside?" Said Baird surprisingly. He is worried that something might happen to him because of his prostatic legs. The last time he wore the prostatic legs was when he left with Hoffman to Anvil Gate. He doesn't know who things are going with is mobility.
"Yes I am. But I am in a Raven with Hoffman and Bernie heading towards Azura." He told him.
"Wait. Hoffman is coming?" He told him. Baird wasn't expecting Hoffman to arrive for another 3 hours. Does it have something to do with what is happening?
Next to Baird both Henry and Alice had raised eyebrows when Baird mentioned Hoffman arriving to Azura. The young man knew about the new leader before and he was a well respected man. Alice, however, never seen the man before; she was becoming nervous at the thought of meeting him.
"But we're not the only ones arriving." Donneld said.
"Who else?" Asked Baird.
There was a pause before Donneld spoke.
"Miran Trescu is also coming." He replied bitterly.
This did not set will with the blonde man. He wasn't too fond with having the UIR, especially Gorasni, coming to Azura and assisting them. Sure Baird didn't mind there help but it wasn't what bothered him. What bothered him was the fact that he didn't trust most Gorasni people; except for a few like Yanik, Borusc, and Paduk.
Paduk, thought Baird. He hasn't seen him a little over a year. The last time they saw each other was at Halvo Bay where Baird and Cole were trying to find reinforcements and a ship. He recalled how Paduk distrust the former COG, especially after Sofia was kidnapped by Gears. And that if the two were to be friends was to never see each other again.
This was still fresh in Baird's mind and it was not gonna go away anytime soon.
Henry and Alice, who remained quiet, looked at Baird, who was lost in thought. They began to get worried.
"Baird? You there?" Replied Donneld, wondered if Baird was still there.
The Gear snapped out of his thoughts and answered.
"Yeah I'm still here." He replied.
"Ok good," Donneld said. "We'll be at the tower in about ten minutes," He told them.
"Alright we'll be there." The Gear told him before cutting off the coms.
"Who was that?" Asked Alice.
Baird looked at her and told her.
"It was Donneld. An old friend." He said.
"What did he say?" Asked Henry.
"He told us that Hoffman is on his way here." He told them.
This made both of them nervous, especially Alice, who hasn't seen the man. Henry, on the other hand, has seen him on a few occasions when visiting the island.
But what were the reason for him to arrive?
"But Hoffman isn't the only one thats coming." Baird told them..
"Who else?" She asked confusedly.
"Miran Trescu." He told them bitterly.
This send a slight chill down their spine. They heard about the leader of the UIR and the war between the two nations before E-Day. There are still hostilities between the old COG and the UIR; but not as much as before. but why would the leader of the Gorasni people be coming here?
"Is there a reason why he is coming?" Henry asked. There was a hint of concern in his voice about the CUBs former enemy.
Baird shrugged. "Don't know but lets go up there and greet them." He told him and the Gear began to head towards the elevator. The other two soon followed.
Once arriving Baird pressed the button and a couple of minutes later the elevator arrived and all three entered; he then pressed the top floor and soon the elevator began to ascend.
It was quite spacious inside the elevator. The walls were a fading gray and the center and on the corner of the elevator was solid gold from top to bottom. It had a pattern of squares. The intercom was playing a audio recording.
"Welcome to Azura. We hope your stay is a pleasant one." The female recording played.
Baird groaned when it played. "Ugh, thought I'd shot that already." He murmured to himself, trying to ignore the recording.
Alice heard him say but didn't say anything. She didn't mind the recorder playing. It helps breaks the uncomfortable silent that was around them.
After a few minutes they reached the top and the doors opened. Baird was the first to get out, followed by Alice then Henry.
Once outside, they did not like what they say.
The Counterweapon, that is the machine, began to emit electromagnetic waves; similar to the activation of the counter measure releasing the radiation to kill the Lambent. It was growing stronger with every second. The gears from inside the where the machine is being kept at were spinning at a fast rate. it was gaining speed; sparks began to fly out.
The winds were blowing fast and harsh. Several trees were blown away due to the winds. Baird gazed upward at the sky.
"That can't be good." He said as he looked up. The others heard him and they too, looked up.
What they saw didn't make the whole situation any better.
A white hot beam was shooting out of the machine. It similar to that of when Adam activated the super weapon before; only this time it is much stronger. The beam was straight upward, clouds were forming around the light.
At this rate it was going to get worser and worser.
"Hey look." Alice yelled and pointed towards the sky to their right.
Baird and Henry looked to where she was pointing at and notice two objects heading there way. The Gear immediately recognized them as helicopters.
It was Hoffman and Trescu.
"It's them." He told them.
The wind was starting to pick up and the Ravens were having a hard time controlling them.
"This is KR-00, we're having an increasing in wind pressure. Colonel Hoffman is on board. We are unable to land." The pilot replied and began to move a safe distance away.
"Colonel you copy?" Asked the blonde man.
"….Baird…..wh-go-on…"
"Colonel? Can you hear me?"
Static.
"Shit." He said to himself.
"What happened?" Alice asked.
"The damn thing is messing with the communications. Can't reach Hoffman or anyone on the helicopters." He told her.
The machine then began to release more electromagnetic waves and it is causing the power in Baird's armor to malfunction.
"Shit!" Baird notice that the lights on his armor were beginning to fade then were shut off. The Lancer that he had on his back fell to the ground because the magnetic surface on his back was powered by the power in his armor. Without it, the weapon fell with a thud on the ground. The lights on his goggles faded as well.
"What happened?" Henry asked as he saw the weapon on the Gear's pack fall to the ground.
"The armor's power is out and the magnetic holsters are not working." He told him as he pick up his Lancer.
Henry nodded in acknowledgement.
"What are we going to do about machine Baird?" Alice asked worriedly.
The Gear looked at the device before back at her.
"Well I can think of two ways." He told her.
"One is we can try to shut it off from here."
"And the second?" Said Henry.
"We get to the power and unplug it. That should shut it off." He told them both.
The man nodded but there was one more thing.
"But what if neither of that works?" He asked.
The Gear knew that there was a possibility that neither of them might not work. But there is no other choice and one of them has to work otherwise, everything will be gone.
Baird looked at him. "It will work…" Said Baird confidently. "It has too." He said quietly as he gazed at the machine.
He then looked at the two. "Are you two ready?" He asked them with a stern look that made them startled.
They nodded quickly to his questioned.
"Good. Lets go." He said and Baird headed towards the machine to find a way to shut it off; Alice and Henry soon followed.
But before they reached it, Donneld managed to contact Baird.
"B-Ba-ird…..you c-opy?" The coms are still choppy but were good enough for the blonde genius.
"What is it?" He asked as he stopped running. Alice and Henry also stopped.
"So…..thing…co…..ing….it's a….." The line cut off again.
This frustrated Baird but from what his friend was trying to tell him was that something was coming, but what.
"What's wrong." Asked Alice.
"It was from Donneld…" He said. "Something is coming."
"What is?" Asked Henry.
Just then there was something in the sky, heading towards the tower.
"What is that?" The female scientist asked as she pointed at the sky.
Both Baird and Henry looked at where Alice was pointing at. Something inside the Gear's guts was telling him that whatever it was, it was trouble.
As the object got closer, Baird could see what it was. His heart began to race.
"Alice, Henry, get behind cover fast. Now!" He quickly told them and he readied his Lancer.
"W-why?" Asked a terrified Alice.
"Just go." He shouted.
She nodded and the both of them quickly ran for cover behind a pillar.
Once they were hiding Baird gazed at the closing then heard the helicopters firing their weapons to take down the object.
The entity was quite agile as it avoided the machine gun fire almost with ease. Once it was near the tower it then spread it's legs, somewhat like a fly would when it landed, and it landed 20 feet away from Baird.
It had the same shape of a spider, only with four tentacle-like limbs coming out of its body. The body is large and under its belly are two small hook-shaped limbs that helps it cling onto objects for an easier landing. Its body was covered in armor that covers most of its body. The head is smaller than its body; it wore a helmet to protect its head. It's bottom teeth were showing and were sharp.
On top of that it was armed with a missile launcher up front and a machine gun in the rear.
What Baird was looking was a Reaver.
It made a loud roar and then it looked at the Gear; the missile launcher was aiming directly at him.
This completely took Baird by surprise because the machine Adam made, the Imulsion Counter weapon, was suppose to wipe out all non-human life on Sera. How did it manage to survive the radiation was beyond the Gear. Though he has a hunch that this was the same Reaver that left after Delta crash landed in Jacinto during the evacuation.
But right now all that Baird is focusing now is to not get killed by the beast as it positioned itself towards him. His Lancer was aiming right at it.
Not too far was Henry and Alice, who were safely behind several pillars. They were watching what was going on. Both scientists were in both awed and feared as they saw the Reaver.
The helicopters were not far from the tower, their side guns were aiming at the Reaver, but are unable to get a clear shot as the winds were picking up.
As this tense moment continued Baird notice that there was something in the driver's seat of the Reaver. Whatever it was, was big, black….
"Oh no." Muttered the Gear as he recognized that black mass.
The mass jumped off its steed and landed hard with a thud. It moaned as it was hurt from the fall. It wasn't black mass but armor with four small orange lights that were in a shape of a square in the back. After a few seconds it got up and what Baird was looked at was a scared pale scaly face with glowing orange eyes.
"Huuuuuummaaannnn!" It growled as it pointed its finger at Baird.
What Baird was looking at was non other than the former general of the Locust Horde: General RAAM.
'How the fuck did he survived? ' Thought Baird as he remembered Marcus and Dom killing him abroad the train carrying the Lightmass Bomb.
Was he dreaming?
The Gear's train of thought vanished as he saw the oversized Theron charging at him with incredible speed. Baird barely managed to escaped as RAAM was about to grab him with his hand.
Baird turned and fired his weapon at RAAM.
The creatures roared in pain as the hot metal bullets hit him in the side. But that did not stop him as he charged at Baird again.
Again, Baird rolled to the side as he nearly missed the hand of the General.
But before the Gear managed to turn and fire, a big grey hand grabbed him by the neck and lifted him a few feet off the ground. Baird let go of the weapon and was trying to free himself from RAAM's grasp.
Alice and Henry, who were hiding, were witnessing the massive Locust choking the blonde Gear. They seen Locust before but nothing like RAAM. They heard stories on how a man named Marcus Fenix and his companion Dom, take down the general of the Locust Horde and activating the Lightmass Bomb that wiped out most of the Locust.
How is this Locust still alive after what happened?
But their thoughts were shattered as they heard gunfire from one of the helicopters. Both of them ducked as it shot the Reaver.
The Reaver made a loud noise of pain as it was being shot.
RAAM looked up and saw the chopper attacking.
This was Baird's chance to escape. He grabbed his pistol and aimed it at the Locust's head….
*BAM BAM BAM*
Baird fired three shots and RAAM screamed in pain and released his grasp.
Baird fell to the ground and grabbed his throat; he was breathing heavily as he could finally breath.
The General buried his hands into his head, there were massive of blood from between his fingers.
The Gear wasted no time has got up, grabbed his Lancer and aimed at RAAM.
The blue haired scientist and her colleague finally able to looked and saw that Baird was freed and now was aiming his weapon at the downed general.
They also saw the Reaver flying around the tower as one of the helicopters were firing at it. The second chopper was now shooting at the flying beast.
Baird was breathing heavily, beads of sweat were forming and sliding down his face as he aimed at the wounded Locust. Never has he been closed to death before; well he has but nothing like this.
He stepped forward two steps and he could hear the rapid bleeding from RAAM. It sounded like two voices that were demonic.
He looked to his left and saw that both Alice and Henry were hiding behind some pillars.
'Well at least they're safe' Thought Baird.
But his thoughts were turned back to RAAM as he began to laugh softly.
This startled the Gear has he took a step back.
RAAM was now laughing more louder and louder.
'What the fuck!' Baird thought as he was starting to get freaked out has RAAM was now back on his feet; his face still covered and his laughs were louder and sounded more demonic. Baird would normally never get freaked out, except on a few occasions.
Not far was a now very scared Alice and a shaking Henry as they saw what was happening. They have never been more terrified in their lives. The laughs from the Locust, the almost demonic laughter send a shivering chill down their spine.
After what felt like forever, RAAMA finally stopped laughing and removed his hands from his face.
What Baird saw next wished that made him wished that he was choking on worm blood.
RAAM'S face, his face changed. It still resembled how it was before, but now it was more darker, more evil than before. His eyes were not that of orange but looked red, almost of that of blood. The wounds that he received were there, but were healing. His teeth were showing were sharper. He had an evil grin on his face that send an extremely cold chill down his spine.
Baird immediately pulled the trigger….
*CLICK*
'Shit! Shit! Shit!' He thought as he remembered using his ammo forgot to reload.
RAAM chuckled darkly as he began to advanced towards the Gear.
Baird, who began to back away, still holding his Lancer with one hand, went to grabbed his pistol.
His eyes widened and remembered that he dropped it when RAAM let him go.
The blonde Gear saw his Snub, but only to be crushed when the big grub stepped on it.
The scientists were watching in horror as the massive monster was getting closer to Baird. Alice wanted to help but was too scared too move. Henry was just frozen unable to do anything.
When RAAM was about 5ft away from Baird he stopped.
Baird, along with Alice and Henry, looked at RAAM.
Why did the evil being stopped?
There was an uncomfortable silence, despite the ever increasing wind and the gunfire overhead.
From Alice's point of view, the cloak that the enormous grub was flowing. It resembled that of the Grim Reaper.
"HUUUUMMMMAAANNNNN." He said. His voice was more evil than before."DOOOOO YOOOOOUUUUU THHHIIINNNK THAT YOU HAAVVEE A CHAANNNCCEE AT WIIINNNNIIINNGG?" He roared at Baird.
"Heh. Looks like somebody's been practicing talking almost normally." Replied Baird sarcastically.
Despite what is happening, Baird will, no matter what, have a sarcastic comment; even if it's death.
The former Drone gave him one last chance.
"Dooo yoouuu thhhiinnk yooouuu have a chhaaannnnccee." He said.
Baird looked at him. "Yeah I think we do." He replied. "Let's see. right now I have two choppers and you one Reaver that will soon crash and die. Then the choppers will kill. Plain and simple." He concluded with a smirk on his face.
But that smirk was quickly wiped out form his face as RAAM began to laugh.
"Yoouuuu thhhiiinnnk yoooouuuu have a chhaannnccee? Loook around." He told him, gesturing his hands towards his hands.
The Gear looked around and noticed that there were shadows forming along the walls, pillars, even from the ground. They were forming from one side to the next, then all around in an arc individual shadows were linking together and forming one long shadow. Then beings were starting to come out of the shadow. They were come out of the walls and were popping out and getting up from the ground; similar to a E-Hole. These things looked otherworldly to Baird.
Then the shadow coating of each individual would reciede back and allowing their true shelves.
What the man was looking at were 20 Theron Elites. Also known as Black Therons.
They all had their traditional black armor mostly covering everything; with the exception of their mouths down to their necks, and their hands. They were carrying two types of weapons: Torgue Bow and Sawed-offs with the double knifes at the end.
'What the hell their magic now' He thought as he witnessed on how they were emerging from shadows. It was almost like magic. 'Might as well start calling them Shadow Therons.' He thought
Aboard KR-00 Hoffman could believe what he is witnessing.
First a Reaver shows up, then the supposedly dead General RAAM appears, nearly killing Baird, being shot at in the face, then this shadowy are appears out of no where more grubs show up.
This was starting to overwhelm the senior veteran and with the whole Raven moving around trying to take down the Reaver wasn't helping.
"Vic what should we do? There is no way blondie will survive." Bernie told him.
Hoffman looked at her and saw a worried looked on her face. He then looked back at the ground where Baird was surrounded.
Victor then notice two beings that were hiding behind several pillars. One had blue hair and the other had short brown hair.
Then an idea hit him. "Bernie. I have an idea." He told her.
"What is it she asked?" She asked.
"You'll see." He then looked at Donneld.
"Donneld, can you give me information on a blue haired woman in Azura and see who are her colleagues?" He told him.
Donneld nodded. "Yes sir." He said has he opened his laptop and began to work.
"Vic what are you doing?" She asked.
"I need to know who they are. That way I can contact them and they can see if they can temporarily stop things on whatever it is doing. Contact Marcus and his squad to bring 10 Gears with them. In the mean time give Baird air support. Hopefully by that time Delta would have arrived by then." He concluded.
Bernie, however, wasn't to fond with the idea. "Vic are you sure this will work? What if something happens? What if the machine, instead of stopping for a while, gets worse?" She asked worriedly. She knew that the stakes were high and Hoffman knew that. But She feared that something might go wrong.
Bernie then felt a hand slip under hers. She looked down and it was Victors'.
"Don't worry. I know this will work. I won't let nothing happen." He told her softly with a soft smile, he then squeezed her hand gently.
Bernie returned the affection. "Ok, I trust you with this Vic." She smiled back.
"Sir I got something about a blue haired woman." Replied Donneld.
Hoffman and Bernie broke off and Victor looked at the young man.
"What you find he asked?"
The man cleared his throat before replying. "The blue haired woman's name is Alice. She doesn't appear to have a last name. She's a scientist who worked with Professor Fenix before Queen Myraah invaded the island. She is Baird's assistant, along with team of scientists and researchers. The other one that's on the ground, his name is Henry." He finished as closed his laptop.
The older Gear nodded. "Alright here's the plan." He told everyone on board. "I'm going call Trescu and tell him to order his chopper to attack the Reaver. In the meantime I'm going to try to contact either Alice or Henry and see if they can try to deactivate the machine or temporarily stop it. Giving us time to provide Baird with air support. Donneld….." He looked at him. "While this is going on, Donneld, I need you to contact Marcus and his team and tell them that we got grubs on the roof. And tell them to bring 10 additional troops." He ordered with seriousness.
The man nodded. "Yes sir1" He replied.
He then contacted Trescu.
"Trescu. Do you copy?" He called.
After a few seconds of static there was a voice on the other end. It was choppy, but was there.
"Yes Hoffman? You have a plan?" He asked.
They needed a plan as soon as possible if they are going to stop one of the most fearsome Locust general anyone has ever faced.
"Yes we do." He said. "But I need you to order your helicopter to keep continuing shooting the Reaver." He finished.
There was silence for a few second before Miran replied.
"…..ok, I trust you my friend." He told him before cutting off.
"Alright then." He told himself before trying to contact the two on the ground.
With Alice and Henry
Alice and Henry could only stand on the sidelines as Baird was going to be killed by RAAM and his elite soldiers. They wished they could do something to help but what.
"…..A…Alice…..H….Henry…" They both jumped as they heard Alice's earpiece come to life. Almost automatically she reached for it and answered.
"Y-yes? Who is this?" Asked with fear in her voice. Not from the voice from her earpiece, but from the Locust threat that were not far from them.
There was static but she could hear the voice.
"…it's Co….nel Hoffman…" The young woman's eyes widen and she froze. It was the leader of CUB. Henry, too, was slightly shocked that it was the leader contacting them.
"Yes sir." She said, trying to sound respectful to the elder leader. Henry went back to look at the scene.
"Listen…..don't….much time…..need you and your Henry…..to help….us…." Said Victor.
"Wh-what do you need us to do sir?" She asked. Henry looked back at her.
On Board KR-00
While Hoffman was doing his part, Donneld tried to contact Anya.
"Hello. Lieutenant Anya Stroud. Do you copy? Anyone from Delta, this is an emergency response." He repeated two more times before a familiar voice came through.
"Donneld? What's the problem."
"We have…" He stopped to gather himself.
"We have what?" Asked Anya.
Donneld is gathering his thoughts because he still couldn't believe that the Locust of survived. These are the the monsters that took his ability to walk and forced him to unable to fight in the front lines.
"Donnelld…" Her voice sounded more soft then before.
Once the prosthetic man gather himself, he told her in a serious tone.
"The Locust are attacking."
Finally chapter 3 is up. I am very sorry for the so much delay. Don't forget to review and comment.
Oh and Gears of War belongs to Epic Games.