CARMINE
(GEARS I, ACT I: ASHES)
For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
— I Thessalonians 5:3
A/N: I saw one person comment in Spanish. I don't actually speak Spanish, but my mother does. (I should've learned when I was young, but I wouldn't let her teach me. I was a right brat to her about it.) She translated for me. Love that women. Glad to read your review. That's great. Hope something comes of it.
Oh and I've decided that every once and a while, though not often, I'm breaking the fourth wall.
Love you and thank you for your support.
(~~~~~~~~~~)
[5,300]
Trial by Fire (Part II) — 14 A.E. Embry Square, Ephyra
"Okay man, here we go. You still got it?" said Dom as we made our way through the ruins.
In turn, Fenix replied back, "I guess we'll find out, huh?" Of course, as we passed the main archway, we immediately came under fire from the Locust.
"Gellert!" I yelled. "Get your ass in position!"
He stayed back, getting behind a wall, and loading a round into his Longshot. Meanwhile, the rest of the Gears and I moved up front, getting behind cover. The battle didn't last long, only about four Locusts.
Gellert managed to snipe one of them, a headshot that obliterated him to mush. On the other hand, I managed to get at one from behind the farthest set of cover, firing at him non-stop. It was a waste of ammo, but it didn't allow him to get a shot in. Everytime the grub poked himself above the cover, he would get peppered with bullets to his chest and head.
Another shot went off from Gellert as he sniped a second grub. A shot to the chest, making the grub fly off his feet, and slam his back on the concrete not getting up again. The most interesting one was Fenix though. One of the grubs, a regular Drone, decided to play the part of Grenadier, and charged ahead of his now dead fellows. Seeing this opportunity, Fenix immediately revved the chainsaw lancer on his gun and jabbed it into the grub.
Evidently he's still got it.
When grubs were cleared, we made it across the area, taking a right to another set of stairs. Along the way, we passed a set of dead Gears, and Kim ordered Fenix to pick up their tags. Said their families back home will want them. Fenix was the one to grab them.
As we were walking to the next site, I said, "You guys should know, since we'll be working together, that Gellert doesn't ever use a Lancer. He's only ever got a shotgun or sniper, because he doesn't like following the Golden Rule too much."
"Sounds like a good way to get yourself killed," Dom noted.
"Totally agree. It's his stupid height. He can get into cover, but it's not pleasant for him. That's why the COG rarely allows extremely tall people in it. Instead, Gellert always does, basically, one of two things. Either he charges the Locust like a Grenadier would, or he digs in somewhere that he doesn't have to crouch too much and snipes the Locust. Meanwhile, I play more like you guys do. Just thought it was worth noting."
"Good to know," said Kim. None of the others bothered to respond. The next area that we came to looked like the front of a giant courthouse. It had three massive columns supporting its protruding roof.
A bunch of grubs were quick to appear out from somewhere that I didn't see. We all got behind cover. Meanwhile, I heard Dom yell, "Harry, flank 'em! Flank left!" Doing as he said, I moved around the pillars, giving me a clear sight of the grubs from the side.
After a little bit of the firefight, an emergence hole or E-Hole [fn1] opened up, and Kim yelled, "Plug that hole!" I didn't see who, but I heard the bolo flying through the air and landing with that familiar blink blink sound. Then there was the explosion as the ground collapsed in on itself.
"Keep moving, Delta!" commanded Kim.
We kept moving around the right side of the courthouse-like building. This side was even worse than the rest of the building. Tons of rubble had fallen and been destroyed. Taking out a couple more grubs, we continued on our way again. These guys were fairly casual so far.
And I'm running this damn thing on insane.
Crossing to the backside of the building, we came across a metal gate that had been blown apart. It led to a bridge, which while pieces were coming off, was mostly whole. Only a section had to be repaired by scrap pieces of metal. Crossing the bridge, we could look out on the right side, from off of the bridge. A fallen squad surrounding a massive, caved-in, emergence hole was laying there.
"Control, this Delta," came the voice of Kim across my com. It was weird hearing him with my actual ears and over the com. "We have visual on Alpha. Possible KIA. No sign of Resonator."
"Copy that Delta. Keep looking." It was the same voice as before from the blonde woman. I guess she was to be addressed as 'Control'.
As we came across the bridge, it was amazing to see the massive structure before me. Like the courthouse, it was perfectly decorated. And this was the back entrance. A detailed triangle archway supported by tall and massive columns. Emerald, now dulled from the war, engraved all across the top with intricate designs, and a large set of beautiful doors was leading into it.
"I'll get the door," said Kim. "I've got the code."
It was also amazing to see how Kim just welcomed us into the group. There wasn't much of a greeting or a getting to know each other phrase. This was war, and we now had a job to do. Apparently, Gellert and I weren't the only new members either. Fenix seemed to have just joined them.
Where was he before?
As the doors parted, they led into an inner court which had parts of its roof blown out, lighting up the dark room, and moss was growing down the opening. It was already a couple feet long.
I could imagine what the inner room must've looked like before all this, before the war. Pillars of stone were everywhere, collapsed and fallen over, making for excellent cover. A statue with the head fallen off also sat in the middle of the room. It must have been gorgeous.
As we walked into the room, there was another set of grubs in the way. Also two E-Holes began to form. One of them, we had to fight all the grubs coming out alongside the others already in the room, while Kim had managed to get a grenade off into the other one before a Locust could emerge, plugging it up.
The battle, like the others, took place rather quickly. It seems like six gears was worth a lot more than tons of grubs. So, passing through the building, we came to a set of stairs leading down to the open street, under the bridge that we were just on. The same place where we spotted the fallen Gears, Gears potentially from Alpha.
As we moved through, I heard Dom say, "I hope that's not Rojas down there. His little boy just turned two last week."
Merlin, I hope so too.
Maybe that's why we couldn't just stand by when we had a chance to stop things. I always knew that we weren't gonna save all of Sera. Especially after ninety-percent of its population was wiped out by the Locust and Hammer strikes. Still… I knew what it was like to have your parents ripped from you… from a war that you didn't start. If we could prevent those deaths, then we had to try. We had to finish this mission.
Fish in a Barrel — 14 A.E.
As we walked up to the bodies, I saw their oddly placed order. Several were laid out perfectly like they had been dragged, while others were leaned up against cars. From the way they were leaned, it made no sense for them to die there. You couldn't take cover behind anything. Actually dying leaned up against the cars that they were would actually put you in the line of fire. It was all rather strange.
Fenix crouched towards a body that had taken a sniper shot, his face unrecognisable, while Kim observed, "Well, it could be Alpha."
"COG tags are gone," Fenix said.
Carmine walked closer to another body, picking up an odd ball shaped piece of metal. If Gellert and I had been from this land, I'm sure we'd know what it was. It wasn't just blown up rubbish. It had designs and bolts and other parts.
"Is that the Resonator?" Kim asked him.
A tiny bit of hope swelled within my chest.
"Nah," Carmine said with a shake of his helmet.
That hope died faster than it came.
On many, the large blue eyes of the COG helmet made them look deadly. On Carmine, it made him look like Colin Creevy, all wide eyed and full of hero worship. It was… kind of adorable… in that kid brother sort of way.
When this is all over, Gellert and I should invite the kid to a campfire.
"Now what?" asked Fenix.
"Let's find that Resonator," Kim said. Meanwhile, Dom grabbed Fenix's attention, but I didn't listen to what was said. Instead, I had turned to my own brother in all but blood.
"Get back, Gellert," I said to my tall pale haired friend. "I don't like the looks of this. Find somewhere to post up. This place looks like it was set up by the Snatchers."
Back home, the Snatchers were infamous for setting up traps. Muggles tied to open areas. Diagon Alley. Hogsmeade. Wherever. It was illegal now to help a Muggle. They were nothing more than cattle. And cattle were property. Yet some fool always tried to let them out and play the hero. And… Snatchers were always more patient than you. Those bastards could go weeks just hiding in the shadows. And they always got you.
"You got it, Harry," Gellert said, nodding and turning back some.
I heard the chatter of a woman's voice coming from Kim's ear, but I couldn't make out the words. I didn't know that Control could talk with individual Gears. That explains why the coms weren't so noisy all the time. The question was, how could I communicate with certain people… but not others.
How would I even do that? There's only two buttons on this thing: talk and power off/on.
Kim offered us what she said. "Our next target is House of Sovereigns. Straight ahead. Move out."
Dumping the scrap metal down the E-Hole, Carmine got back up to follow after Kim. That's when we spotted the grubs. They came out of a second alley to an orange metal torrent. It was double barreled, having two machine guns on it, and a metal shield to protect the gunner.
"Troika!" Dom yelled.
I'd seen these turrets many times before. There was no use in firing at them. All they did was absorb your bullets. Thus, instead, we all ran behind cover, the only real cover in the area that gave you a line of sight to the grubs without getting shot.
"Frag out," I called, reeling up the bolo, as I briefly stepped out of cover to launch the grenade. Landing square on target with of bounces, it turned the grubs into hamburger. Somehow though, the damned Troika had survived.
Making our way through the street, we made quick work of other grubs we meant. Along the way, Gellert had been slowly inching along with us, mainly holding back as our sniper covering. It proved useful. Sometimes when you had to change mags, Gellert would cover you by taking out any grubs that were trying to get a hold of your ass.
"Look ahead Delta," I heard Gellert call out, slightly out of breath from having to catch up, "zer is a little area where ve can regroup."
It was a centre fountain devoid of any water. There were patches of moss and broken up stone littered across it. I could also see several of the grates, which would have been the drains for the fountain had it been working. They were all black with an almost oily like substance. As we all moved into it, the ground beneath our feet began to quiver.
"Grub hole!" Fenix shouted.
"Plug 'em up!"
"I can't seem zem, Harry," came Gellert's voice over the coms. He was still back there, and the E-Hole was in such a place that he wouldn't have visual.
Pressing my fingers against my ear, I shouted, "Then get to where you can see, yah wanker!"
Slowly the grubs began climbing out of the hole. I took aim at the ones that had successfully made it. At the same time, there was the familiarly whirring sound as someone began rearing up a grenade.
"Frag out!" Fenix shouted.
The explosion followed as the E-Hole caved in on itself.
"Hole has been sealed, over" came the voice of the pretty blonde lady.
"There's another grub hole," Dom called out.
Another two grubs climbed out of this hole, and already Fenix had another grenade rearing up to toss. I heard him mumble something under his breath about the Locust's smell as the frag went loose. The two grubs that had made it out of the hole were immediately struck down by a sniper. Clean headshots. Then a third hole began to emerge, but before any grubs could get out, Fenix had already tossed a grenade onto it. By the time the hole was fully formed, all it did was welcome an explosion.
"Shit! Shit! Another one?" came the cry of Carmine.
This time it was behind us, in an alley. The distance was too far to chuck a grenade from here, so we all resolved to keep ourselves in cover. The forming of the hole actually knocked loose a bunch of rubble that was blocking the alley.
Good thing too. There isn't really anywhere else to go after this.
I vaulted over the fountain, immediately getting into a roadie run, and finding the nearest cover I could. I was close enough to the hole that when I had a chance, I could get my own grenade in there.
"Covering fire!" someone had yelled as I edged closer to the hole.
Once I was in just the right spot, the Gears still covering my back, I blindly tossed a grenade towards the hole. The grenade went off, and I heard the hole seal.
When a grenade successfully landed in an E-Hole, it sounded different to a regular explosion. The sound was muffled, almost like listening to it from underwater, and you could hear the way the surrounding walls of the cave caved in on itself.
"I think we're good," Fenix called out. "Let's grab some ammo."
After securing for ourselves some rounds, Kim said "Follow me," taking off down the now cleared alleyway.
"What the hell, man? Those holes could pop up anywhere!" came the cry of Carmine over the com.
"You'd think we would have figured out some kind of goddamn defence by now," Fenix said.
"Yeah," Santiago agreed. "Man, Command's tried everything, but nothing works. If the Locusts want to come up, they come up."
"Zey should have tried to pour Imulsion down zem. Light all zeir damned tunnels on fire," came Gellerts voice over the com.
"Yeah? You got the kind of money to supply all that Imulsion?" Fenix said.
"Gah," Gellert scoffed. "Who gives a damn about ze money? You are ze COG, no? Just take it if you need. What's ze Imulsion corporations gonna do about it? Besides, it's not like cash means much these days."
"Hmm," Fenix just mumbled.
"Man, I used to have nightmares about those things when I was a kid. Always afraid one would show up in my house," Carmine said.
"Shit…" Dom said, "I still do."
Fork in the Road — 14 A.E.
We came across two underground tunnels. They look to be a remnant from the street above collapsing. Somehow, they made a perfect fork in the road with a perfect middle wall of partition.
Pressing my fingers to the coms, I said, "Gellert, you better get up here. No room for sniping here."
"Roger zat. I vill hurry it up." It was but a few moments before my pale-hair heterochromatic friend was next to us, his Gnasher[2] out and his sniper strapped to his back.
"Okay Delta," Kim said, "It looks like we need to split up. Fenix! You, Peverell, and Carmine will go left. Dom, Grindelwald, and I will go right."
Damn, why is Dom the only one who gets called by his first name.
Names were a big deal in Wizarding culture. Last name basis meant no-friendly or business. First name basis either meant a lack of respect… or… you were best mates. A lot of undertones in Pureblood circles.
"Yes sir," Fenix replied. Looks like he's gonna take point. So, getting behind him, the three of us entered the tunnel. Like before, when Gellert and I were making our way to Embry Square, shots and explosions went off in the distance, and the ceiling let loose sprays of dust. It didn't give me confidence as to the stability of this collapsed road.
"Move up," Kim whispered out. The sound carried from the right to the left side. Even though there was basically a middle wall blocking us, it wasn't fully complete, having chunks of it missing or rebar exposed, allowing us to see each other at times. Just wasn't big enough to cross.
"Grubs!" Fenix called out, as we came to an archway leading to a set of stairs. All the rubbish somehow feeding into it. A couple of Locusts were at the top of the steps firing down on us.
"Flank 'em!" Kim commanded. So we opened fire on them, a battle going back and forth. Most of it was Lancer and Hammerburst[3] fire. However, the constant spray of Gellert's shotgun could be heard as he charged the Locust head on. Though I couldn't see him, I knew that's what he was doing.
It really was an effective technique. It only took one to two rounds from the Gnasher to drop a Locust, and Gellert had mastered the lever-action so that he could pop off two rounds insanely fast. By the time most Locusts took aim, he was already pressing the trigger. Rarely ever did he get behind cover when in close quarters like this. It was hard on his massive body. Besides, with the Gear's armour and his large size, he hardly even felt the bullets. It was seriously amazing how much damage a Gear's armour could withstand. The worst part was the bruising, but top it off with Gellert's werewolf abilities and his stocky size, and it was like firing pellets at a block of wood.
As long as they didn't hit his head.
It didn't take long for us to work our way past the Grubs. In the end, splitting up didn't really do much as both roads led to the same location. Some kind of building. And, you guessed it, a bunch of columns were in the room decorating and supporting the walls. If you hadn't guessed it, then let me make it clear that this world took a deep sense of pride in making sure they were architecturally pleasing. They all had that dystopian military pride feel to them.
This room led to a second room that looked more like a worker's facility. A hole was blown between the two rooms allowing for us to see clearly into it. Several grubs were firing down at us, having the high ground, and one of them was manning a Troika turret.
"Shit!" Dom called out. "There's another nest around the corner!"
"With a spotter on the right," Fenix called out.
I wasn't entirely sure what a spotter was. I've seen many Troikas but didn't know about any spotter of any kind. However, as the name implied, I'm sure I knew what they did.
"Take him out first!" Kim called out.
The spotter was in some kind of building. A building within a building really. There was some kind of chain hanging inside of the main room, so I assumed that the spotter was in the control room.
"I'll take care of it," Gellert called out. "Ze moment he peeks his head, he's dead. You guys take out that Troika."
"Roger that," Fenix said.
While Gellert unstrapped his Boltshot, the rest of us immediately began targeting the Troika. Several large pieces of scrap metal were strewn across the room making for excellent cover. I ended up behind some kind of cylinder. Maybe a fuel tank or some kind of powercell. I didn't know. I wasn't a bloody muggle. You're also not from this world, Harry, I thought. Alongside the scrap metal in the room, there were also several grubs charging across the field while the turret laid down covering fire.
A sniper round went off alongside a crunch as a Locust's head popped off. Gellert came over the comms saying, "Spotter is dead."
Behind the metal tube, I unhooked a bolo and lodged it over the tube towards the spotter.
"Grenade!" one of the grubs called out.
Boom!
The gunner was turned to minced meat. Once more, that damned Troika had somehow survived the explosion. We should make our armour out of whatever the hell that shite is.
With the gunner down, it didn't take long for us to capture the rest of the area, taking out whatever other grubs were along the way. When the area was clear, I moved up a set of stairs to where the Troika was positioned. Blood was splattered across the ground from where my grenade had gone off, and there were three sets of sandbags protecting the sides of the gun.
The building around us started rumbling as an E-Hole began to form from where we had just come.
"We've got Locust coming through!" Kim shouted.
"Harry! Get on ze gun!" Gellert cried out, coming to stand beside me. This way I could mow down the grubs while he took care of the stragglers.
Getting on the Troika, I found it to be rather heavy, taking a few moments to spin it and aim it in the right direction. A Troika had a 180 degree range of motion, and when I got on it, it was facing left, rather than straight on at the grubs. From beyond the shield of the Troika, I could see several grubs coming through where we just had. Grounding my feet, my muscles tensing up, I pressed on the trigger. The twin mounted gatling guns went off, spraying hundreds of bullets at the grubs. An intense vibration travelled through my body, far greater than what the Lancer rifle had. It shook me to my toes and made my arms go numb. If the gun wasn't mounted, the recoil would send anyone flying into the next.
Godric's Heart mate. This bloody thing is mad.
Upon receiving fire, some of the grubs took shelter in nearby cover. The stupid ones just kept coming in my line of sight. The ones that had taken cover had immediately drawn Gellert's interest. If they even thought to pop their heads up, then they'd soon find themselves without one. The other four guys had taken up positions of attack. Whatever grubs made it through my Troika were cut down by four Lancers with perfect aim.
Seeing the area clear and no more Locusts exiting the E-Hole, Kim said, "Good job, men. Now let's go find that Resonator. Move out!"
Behind the Troika was a metal that we all began moving towards. We heard a Locust's growl come from it before the door was busted open. It was a single Locust… Safe to say that with five Lancers and a Gnasher… Well… He didn't get very far.
Knock Knock — 14 A.E.
"Control, this is Delta Squad. Any word from Alpha?" Kim said.
"Negative, Delta. We still have radio silence, over."
"Copy that. Fenix, Grindelwald, Peverell, and Dom will look for a way in. Carmine and I will stay back and suppress," Kim instructed.
"What about Alpha?" Fenix asked.
"We'll save them if we can."
And we damn well can, I thought to myself.
The door that we came through had led to some kind of hallway. Getting to the end of the hall was a massive steel door. It had a green light with some kind of keypad. Interestingly, doors like this didn't often have handels. Fenix didn't seem to mind the lack of handles. He just reared back and kicked the door, sending it flying open.
It led to the side street passing along the House of Sovereigns. I only knew that because at the very top of the building, there was a big set of letters that said "HOUSE OF SOVEREIGNS". Once more, Tyrian architecture proved its beauty. Sovereign had a large set of steps going up to it, and there was a large half-circle indentation in the building, with massive pillars upholding a covering of sorts. On the very highest point of the building was a marble dome. All the buildings here reminded me of what I imagined ancient Greece would have looked like.
As we actually went into the street, the ground beneath us began to rumble. Looking left, our Squad ducked behind cover as several Reavers went by. When they passed through, the ground shook with the force of their passing.
Oh yeah, those are a set of guys that should probably be explained. Reavers were the Locusts version of air support. They were strange tentacled creatures with oddly shaped bodies. When flying, the tentacles were strewn behind them like your hair was when you flew on a broom. It wasn't clear how they actually flew. A Reaver had no wings and were actually quite heavy creatures. Ironically, the only thing small about them were their heads when compared to the rest of their body. Though, those heads had a set of razor sharp teeth in them, and from it they could release a grating scrawl.
Reavers always had two Locusts on them. A gunner and a flyer. Most Reavers had one chain gun attached to it. However, it typically faced backwards. So, if the gunner wanted to shoot forward, he would have to use his own weapon. Typically a Hammerburst. Meanwhile, the flyer had control of the Reaver itself along with a cannon that was mounted to the side of its body. It fired off a single rocketshot, a Boomshot I believe it was called, that could really lay down some damage.
Like any other beast, a Reaver could be killed by firing at it, but they were particularly vulnerable on their underside. Perhaps due to all the armour and saddles the Locusts outfitted them with. Underneath a Reavers body was a patch of red soft tissue. Firing into it could take a Reaver out right away. Now you might wonder how you can access the underside, if a Reaver can fly. That's the trick. Those tentacles that would fly behind it could also be used to land the Reaver, shifting underneath its body to hold it up like some kind of acromantula. Then you could take aim under its belly.
There was nothing like a Reaver on Earth. Nothing so strange. Nothing so odd. Nothing so weird. Yet here they were in Sera, and they were particularly dangerous.
"Did you see that?" Dom said.
"Yeah. Let's hope they don't come back," I said.
"Go. Go. Go," Dom instructed, as we charged up the steps.
The centre of the House of Sovereigns was also turned into a military zone. Many sandbags had been strategically set up, and several concrete barriers, usually used to divide roads, were set up. There was also a circle of sandbags on one of the doors leading to Sovereign. In that circle… was another Troika. Where there were Troikas, there were Gears. Turns out the placement of the sandbags and barriers and Troikas didn't work in our favour as a squad of grubs engaged us.
As usual, Gellert moved back out into the street so that he could be further from the flying bullets. He got behind a car and set up his Boltshot, taking aim at whatever grub came into his sights. Kim and Carmine got behind a set of bags and began laying down suppressing fire. Meanwhile, Dom, Fenix, and I began charging ahead.
Due to the entrance of Sovereigns being a kind of arch or curved circle, there were actually several doors leading in. All of which had sandbags around them, and we would need to vault over them to get inside. All but one of them that is. This one had a set of closed doors which flew open as a Grenadier began charging out of the.
I got behind a set of bags that gave me cover from the turrent but a clear sight of the Grenadier. Since he was using a shotgun and I a Lancer, I just fired at him from my place. He tried to fire back, but the distance was too far and the radius of the Gnasher was too spread. Only a few of them actually touched my armour. When the grub finally went down, I charged across the field, Dom and Fenix keeping most of the turrets' attention off of me, as I made it into the vestibule of the House of Sovereigns.
I began making my way around the large entryway flanking the turret. The ground shook and by now I knew what that meant.
"We've got a grub hole!" came Dom's voice over the com. "Coming from the House of Sovereigns."
"I'm flanking," I called back. "Continue drawing their fire. These bloody bastards ain't gonna know what hit them."
The E-Hole was easy to spot as it appeared on a door off to the side. About four grubs came out of it before I managed to get a nade off. I threw two more, the last of my grenades, blowing up the rest of the grubs. Time was of the essence, and I didn't have it to spare getting pinned down in a firefight. So, running past the now dead grubs, I came upon the turret.
Take this you bastard, I thought as I came behind the gunner, chainsaw running, and drove it into his back. I started high, between the shoulder blades, and pulled the rifle all the way down to his ass. Blood splattered all over my arm, and some on my face as the Lancer made quick work of the gunner.
"All clear!" I yelled.
"Fall in," Kim said. I stayed by the turret and Grindelwald set up near, laying down behind the sandbags by the turret. Meanwhile, all of Delta Squad got behind a set of barriers. Carmine was fiddling with his Lancer, his body language frustrated, and it drew Kim's attention.
"You good?" he asked.
"Yeah, but I got a problem." So you're not good. "Something's wrong with this thing. It keeps jamming," he said while pulling the trigger, showing us that indeed, the weapon wouldn't fire. Only a light click would come out of it. "See?" the kid said as he moved close to Kim, getting into a half standing position and revealing most of his upper body to the world.
I watched it happen in slow motion. A grub came out of hiding on the street. He had on a set of glowing orange goggles. His armour was light. In his hand, cocked and aimed, was a Boltshot sniper rifle.
My face turned to horror as I realised what was about to happen.
Oh no.
"CARMINE," I yelled. "Get dow-" and that's when I saw the shot. Loud as can be, the bullet flew through the chamber of the Locust's rifle, cut through the air, and caved in Carmine's helmet as he fell back on the ground… dead as a dog.
"Noooo!" I roared.
(~~~~~~~~~~)
Final A/N: There are no words to be said. Just put your hand over your heart.
Footnotes:
fn1: Emergence Hole or E-Hole = a hole that can appear anywhere, except Jacinto due to its soil material, made by the Locust. Locusts come from them and enter battles with them.
fn2: Gnasher Shotgun = a short-barreled, stockless, lever-action military shotgun. It is a commonly, alongside the Lancer, deployed weapon of the COG's Gears. It is very small with a very short range and is primarily used in close quarters combat. It is somewhat rugged looking in comparison to the Lancer, but it is highly effective.
fn3: Hammerburst = the main weapon of the Locust. It is a red automatic rifle that, as its name suggests, fires in bursts. A couple shots each pull of the trigger. This weapon has no form of a bayonet like the Lancer does, and in my opinion is far inferior to the Lancer.