COLE TRAIN
(GEARS I, ACT I: ASHES)
And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.
— John 16:22
(~~~~~~~~~~)
[5,100]
Loss was an old friend. Had been since the day I was born. First, it was my parents. Then it was Quirell and Voldemort. Those two weren't much of a loss, but a Voldemort possessed Quirrell was my first kill, and you never forgot the first. The way the eyes dull as the life from them fades.
After those two was an eleven-year-old girl. She too was possessed by Voldemort. He made her try to kill four of her own classmates with a basilisk. I managed to destroy the Horcrux possessing her and slay the beast. By the time I did though, she was already too weak. She died in my arms.
In reality, that was perhaps the first time that I truly understood death. I will never forget the look of despair upon her mother's face that night as she realised that I was the only one that would be coming out of that blasted chamber. The look on her brothers when they knew that they'd never see their beloved baby sister again: rage from the youngest, crestfallen from the twins, despair from the rule follower, and horror from her eldest brothers. Defeat from her father. Daddy's little girl was gone. The pride of the Weasley clan was lost. The first girl born in seven generations. I did all I could for her, but as powerful as I was, even then, I was still just twelve-years-old. Sometimes all that you can give… is not enough.
Ginny Weasely died that night in the Chamber.
I lived.
The next year—over the summer really—I killed my second person, if anyone can really have a counter of that sort of thing. She was a sister at the local Anglican Church my aunt and uncle attended. The church was about an hour drive from Surrey—in the heart of London. That's where I learned all about God. That's where I started to learn all about God. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia always had me go with them. Most magical hated church. I enjoyed it. Just not the Sister. Her name was Chastity Barebones. She knew that I was a wizard before my aunt and uncle told me. Because the church was so far from our house, we'd often stay the whole day to volunteer to help. I was always assigned to assist Chastity. Every week, after the man of God had given his sermon, I'd follow Sister Barebones to the crypt of the church. She'd muzzle me. Chain me. Then, the whipping began. She said the Bible called it 'crucifying the flesh'. She called it 'Beating the freakishness out of me.' It was like that every year from when I was about five till I was thirteen… almost fourteen really.
The summer after my third year, my aunt's brother came into town. Joseph Evans. He often visited many congregations in the area, being a big-whig minister of the Anglican Church. He's the one who found me.
I was just so mad after Remus and Sirius my third year. Ginny my second. Quirrell my first. I was just so mad… I don't remember what happened. There was just so much blood. That's still the only thing I can remember from then. The blood.
It was on my knuckles. It stained my hands. It stained my clothes. It was in my hair. It splattered across my face. It blinded my eyes. There was just so much blood.
Joseph was the one to find me next to her body. He knew what I was, and he knew it was an accident. I guess it's not true that the blood isn't the only thing I can remember. I remember how he didn't freak out. He didn't berate me. He just gave me a sad smile, sighed, and said, "Everything's gonna be okay, Harry." I thought Uncle Vernon was mad at me. Sister Barebones had always put on a kind façade for the rest of the world. Uncle Vernon liked Sister Barebones. Instead, when Joseph got done explaining what the Sister was doing to me, he just smiled tightly and said, "Well done Harry." I thought he was mad at me at the time. I thought it was a sarcastic remark. He was mad for me. That tight smile… that was for me. Just a year ago… or really six years ago (six in the multiverse, one in my world) Vernon let me smoke cigars with him. That was when he told me that he wished worse had befallen her.
Still… she was another body on my conscious.
After that, there was Cedric in my fourth year. He died because he was with me. I won the tournament, but I wanted to share the glory with him. I should've just taken that damned chalice for myself. He might still be alive then. I learned that night that sometimes selfless intentions can still result in death. You just can't save 'em all.
Then there was Katie Bell in my fifth. A cursed necklace made by Draco Malfoy. An assassination attempt on me. He knew I liked Katie Bell. Probably my first real crush outside of Fleur and Cho's good looks. They transported her to St. Mungos. She hadn't made it.
Sirius in my sixth year. Captured by the Dark Lord himself. Cruciated into a vegetable. His death had been a mercy killing at best.
We did find the cure though. Three… months… later. By then, Neville's parents had already passed away. Sirius though… he could have lived for years if I had just fucking waited! I was the one to cast the spell.
I don't know who else has died since I've been gone. But I know that while Gellert, Alby, and I have been hunting, the war has continued. Which means most certainly many more.
However, the losses didn't stop just because we left our world. Many others died in Erised. That was the name of the first universe we travelled to. Many died there. Ron. Dumbledore. Sirius. Angelina. Fleur. Bill. The list goes on.
The worst though was her.
I lost her again.
Except it was different this time. This time I had gotten to know her. I got to know who she really was. I got to see the girl who survived the Chamber. The girl with a fire in her soul. I fell in love with that girl. I even had a kid with that girl. Now that girl is dead, and I'm here, and my kid is being raised by my parents, and I will likely never see my daughter again.
I'm tired of all this.
Then there was Carmine.
Knock Knock (Part II) — 14 A.E.
"Sniper," Kim yelled. "Take position!"
The bastard ran off to the side, trying to take cover.
"Gellert!" I growled. "Take the fucker out!"
"With pleasure," he growled back.
As the Locust ran for cover, Gellert stood up beside me from behind the sandbags, quickly aimed, and got a shot off in the bastard's head, giving him a taste of his own medicine.
That's what you fucking get! That's what you fucking deserve!
I didn't know the kid long. I don't even think it had been an hour. I didn't even know what he looked like under that helmet. But… for some reason… his voice reminded me so much of Colin Creevey. The way he welcomed Gellert and I with such awe, the way he spoke so freely of how the E-Holes used to give him nightmares, or the way in which his inquisitive little brain picked up a hunk of metal at that ambush sight. He was so bright in this magic forsaken spit of land. Not like Fenix or Hoffman. Hardened by their own world.
Not like me either. Embittered by mine.
Gellert and I had tried so hard to keep our distance for this very reason. He was our first loss in this world. We had seen others die, but we didn't know any of them. Our nomadic search for the Diadem made it so that we were never in one place for long. Made it so that we didn't get to know many people. And now the first one we get to know… he's gone… and I knew that there would be others of this squad just like that. Still…
Damnit!
The columns supporting Sovereigns began to shake and in response, Lieutenant Kim shouted, "Locust reinforcements! Take cover!"
"Looks like it's time to dig in, Delta," I said.
Mounting up on the gun, I began mowing down on whatever bastards crossed my way. That now familiar feeling spread across my bones as my arms became numb to the Troika's vibrations. It was actually quite hard to maintain a firm grip on the gun without the recoil sending the bullets sky high. No wonder all the people in this universe are built like Hagrid. Round after round came out of the twin gatling machine. All I needed was less than a second of exposure and a grub would be peppered with bullets.
Dom, Kim, and Fenix were down by the fountain in the centre of Sovereigns. As the grubs came charging up the steps, they would meet those that neither I nor Gellert took out.
The manoeuvrability of the Troika gave many Locusts the opening that they needed to charge forward. If I was aiming it left, then the ones on the right could try and get ahead. By the time I had aimed it right, they could already be behind cover and a few steps closer to us. It was a game of pingpong. Still, not all the Locusts were so lucky to sneak past us.
There was a moment of silence, where nothing but distant gunfire and the stray bird could be heard flying through the air. Yet, there was nothing in sight. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Gellert scanning down field with his bolt-action rifle.
"Is zis ze all clear?" he asked.
A dark, grumbling laugh came from the side, to the next door over.
"Apparently not," Fenix grumbled.
"This way Gears!" Kim shouted, as we sprinted up the steps, an emergence hole forming within the vestibule to the House of Sovereigns.
That's what made the grubs such a deadly enemy. An E-Hole could pop up just about anywhere on Sera, save for Jacinto. It gave the grubs the perfect ability to ambush. While we may have had King Ravens, there was no true way for a Gear to flank short of… well… actually flanking. But a Locust drone could come up from anywhere. They didn't need to manoeuvre across the battlefield like we did, through side streets and cover, just to flank. They just popped up like Dobby the House-elf could.
Here we are Mr. Potter, sir! You is ground-walker! Die!
"Let's get in there," Marcus called out.
Together, we all tried making our way within the vestibule, ducking behind cover, as we took our drone after drone. It wasn't a large mass of them. A simple group meant to flank.
It was close quarters, extra tight, but Gellert switching to his Gnasher gave us the opening we needed to push the enemy. Within moments, they were all dead and the silence returned.
"Control, this is Delta," Kim said. "Come in."
A horrid buzzing sound came across my ears.
"Nice," Fenix remarked.
"Military equipment," Dom said. "Always works."
No one said anything about the Com's after that, but Dom did keep speaking.
"Carmine… Man…" he said.
"I know…" Fenix whispered. It was devoid of his usual gruff overtone. And by the look on his face, I knew that he really did know. Who knows how much he'd seen. Gellert had told me all about Fenix one night, many moons ago. I never forgot it, because it reminded me… of me. He had fought in the Pendulum Wars and fought in many battles against the Locusts. At least over twenty years of fighting. Who knows how many he'd seen die in combat.
We stood before a large double door. On each side of the door was half a circle, which when closed made gear with eight teeth. Representative of the Octus Canon—Order, Diligence, Purity, Labor, Honor, Loyalty, Faith, and Humility
"The COG does not turn because the Imulsion moves it. It turns with the last breath of each who died protecting it. Remember their names." I recited.
"Vigilant and unyielding, resolute within ze machine, zey defended our order of life through sacred duty. Remember their names."
…
…
…
Not a word was spoken for several moments.
…
…
…
Nothing else needed to be said.
"C'mom," Kim said, "I'll open the door. I've got the code."
(~~~~~~~~~~)
Hammer House of Sovereigns, Ephyria
"Yeah! Whoo! Bring it on, baby! Can't stop this!" The voice was far, carried by the halls of the capitol building. It was high pitched, full of giddiness and excitement.
As we ascended up the steps, towards the voice we heard, Fenix said, "I think we just found Alpha."
"Ze real question is how did ve miss zem?" said Gellert.
"I got enough for all of y'all!" came the excited voice of Alpha.
"Somebody's havin' a good time up there," Dom remarked.
The sound of Lancer fire could be heard alongside the mocking remarks.
"You wish, baby! Hahaha!"
We came to a destroyed office area with a balcony. Overlooking it, we could see a tiny little courtyard.
"Holy shit! It's one guy," Dom reported.
"You need glasses, sucker! Damn!"
"Oh, you can't see straight? Well, let me help you with this!" The sound of shotgun blasting off echoed through the halls.
He was a dark skinned male, from here we could see that he was pretty tall. His body was broad but not with fat, only hard muscle. He was surrounded by several dead bodies, some Gears, most Locusts. From our point of view, we could see that he was firing off at another room but was quickly getting overwhelmed.
"Hold still!"
Getting to a better vantage point, I could see that several grubs were moving in against him. Still, this soldier just refused to give.
"That's one for the highlight reels," the soldier shouted, as readied for himself a bolo grenade. "Bye-bye, nutsac!"
"C'mon," I called out. "We've got to get down there!"
"Get down those stairs," Kim commanded, opening a second door which led to the courtyard. While Kim, Fenix, Dom, and I went down stairs, Gellert moved over by the edge of the overlook that I was just at, Longshot already set up.
Getting to the bottom of the stairs, we walked past another set of tall doors. Grubs were coming in from the right. Without even getting to cover, I pulled up my Lancer and laid into the first. He went down like a sack of potatoes. Kim came up beside me to assist, while Dom and Fenix moved left to out the Locusts coming from there.
Seeing the support, the large black man got up and roared, "Ain't enough freaks to stop this man! Whoo! I'm back in the game!" After that, it didn't take long for us to kill rest.
When it was all clear, I finally got a good look at Alpha Squad. It was just one man, but he might've been all that was left of them. His hair was cut short and his face was cut with a sporting grin. He strutted up to us with a certain degree of swagger in his steps.
His armour was slightly different from ours. While Kim had the typical blue Trooper armour and Gellert, Fenix, and I had the Veteran Armour, this Gear had a set of grey armour. It was similar to the summer armour, missing the shoulder and arm pads, but it still had the heavy leggings and thick chestplate, rather than the slim down one the summer armour was known for.
When the man walked up to us, he threw his arms out in an excited gesture saying, "Yeah, that was beautiful, baby!"
Kim, always the strict leader, said "State your name, soldier."
Not even a kind greeting.
Immediately, the black man's face shifted to a serious business scowl. I could tell that the man wasn't mad, he was simply all soldiers at that moment.
"Private August Cole. Alpha Squad, sir."
Dom walked up, a little bit of admiration in his voice, and said, "Cole? As in the Cole Train?"
"Yeah, that's right," Cole nodded.
"Where's the rest of your squad?" Kim asked.
"They're sitting tight in the Tomb."
"We're Delta Squad," Kim informed him. "We're here to retrieve the sonic device."
"And to get you guys outta here," Fenix added. My eyes shot up slightly at that. He was a tough around the edges kind of guy, but… his first instinct hadn't been the device but the squad. That concern of priorities right there embodied everything Joseph tried to teach me:
'Things are to be used. People are to be loved.'
People matter a lot more than a Resonator, and the concern Fenix showed for Alpha Squad, just like he did when he went to investigate the bodies we found earlier, made me realise what kind of a man Fenix was.
"Well, hell yeah," Cole said. "We've been waiting for the chopper, but the radios don't work for shit. Sir!"
There's that military technology for yah Dom.
"Same on our end," Dom said.
"It's the Seeder. They're jamming our transmissions," said Cole.
"Then we have to make those Seeders our top priority, sir," Fenix told Kim.
"Agreed. We need to reestablish radio contract with Control. ASAP," he said, walking away from the scene to lead us onwards.
(~~~~~~~~~~)
As we marched onwards, I came close to Fenix and said, "What's a Seeder?"
"Seeders are Locust beasts that are used to jam transmissions by launching these nasty ink filled creatures, called Nemacysts," he explained. "Enough Nemacysts in the air will jam communications. Not really sure how that all shit works though."
"Got it," I said.
Gellert smiled at me when I said that. It was kind of our inside joke. Joseph always told us that whenever he explains something and someone responds with 'got it', that usually means just the opposite.
After that, I moved close to him so I could talk with him.
"Know anything about this?" I said, gesturing to Dom still fawning over Cole.
"Number 83! Damn," he said.
In turn, Cole said, "The one and only baby."
"Remember this guy? He played for the Cougars! Defensive lineman. We saw you play, man!"
"That's right! Everybody wants to see the Train, baby!"
"Hey Marcus, remember? Division playoffs. Forty-yard line!"
"I remember you owe me twenty bucks," Fenix said.
"Oh yeah?" Dom said. "See me after the war."
"So?" I asked Gellert.
"Zey are talking about Zrashball. In many ways, it is zis vorld's equivalent of ze American football. Mr. Cole over zere is a very famous player. He signed up for ze COG to help boost ze war effort. Most people are like you and I. They don't view the COG favourably."
The irony was not lost on me that now we were a part of it.
"When Mr. Cole signed up, ze public changed zeir opinion rather quickly. It vas kind of like how Rufus tried to get you to back ze Ministry. Except… as far as I understand, he actually wanted to help. Meanwhile, you didn't," he said with a pointed look.
"Yeah, well fuck the regime," I grumbled.
In spite of Gellert bringing up the stupid Ministry, I couldn't help the smile that broke over my face. Seeing Dom fawning over Cole brought back such good memories of Hogwarts. I remember being the Seeker for Gryffindor. I remember the thrill of the game. I remember the adoring fans. Even if it was just a school game, people still treated you like a star. That was the only time that I ever actually appreciated my fame. That was the only time I ever actually tried.
Coming close to the big man, Gellert right beside me, I introduced myself.
"Harry Peverell, sir."
"Gellert Grindelwald the Second," said my friend.
He scanned us up and down. For as big as he was, we were taller. Gellert was probably just as wide too.
"Damn son! Ain't never met anyone bigger than the Cole Train. Especially this one," he said as he looked Gellert over. Gellert's toothy grin grew. The damn guy always had a shit eating grin on. This one just grew bigger and with his canines showing a little more.
Smug cunt.
"Well, we're honoured to give the grubs a good thrashing with yah."
"Yeah, baby!" he said. "We in the big games now!"
I just smiled back at him.
Merlin! It's been almost four years since I've been on a broom. I know what I'm doing after I get out of here.
(~~~~~~~~~~)
As we came up the steps, we ran into a hallway. Down one side was a window with wooden barricades strung all the way up it. It was quite tall too. Someone really put in the effort to keep it secure. Down the other side of the hall, there was an archway that opened to another room. However, that entrance was also blocked. The ground underneath was missing, a big E-Hole in its place, and with our big armour, there was no way we could shimmy along the edges.
"The hell was that?" Fenix said, as some strange creature ran up the side of the walls near the E-Hole. Running over to investigate, I looked up and saw nothing.
Right next to the E-Hole was a dead Gear… his body torn apart like a pack of hyenas had scavenged it.
"Stay vertical," I heard Cole say.
"We hold here," Kim said. He was standing next to an intact door. The others in this room were destroyed or barricaded. "Jack, decloak and rip this door." Evidently it was locked and Kim didn't have the code. Doors in Sovereign were massive and strong. Only the best for the COG. Our Lancer's wouldn't chew through them.
There were a couple of beeps and a little flying robot shimmered into existence. Was that thing with us the whole time? Probably more of the COG's military tech. I'll ask Gellert about it later. He floated over to the top of the door and from his hands came an acetylene torch. He applied it against the top centre of the door and began working his way down.
He's quite nifty. But he's slow too. Who knows what could happen between the doors opening?
"Constant vigilance, guys. Whatever the hell that thing was, it could still be out there," I said.
"Why did you have to say zomething, 'Arry?" Gellert remarked, his ears twitching, sensing a disturbance.
At that moment, at the far end of the hallway, the one opposite of the grub hole, something burst into the centre of the hall. It was tiny, maybe three feet tall, and had a humanoid figure. Meaning two arms and two legs It also had a massive shell on its back which stretched to its front. Some kind of armour. Along with it were wrist guards and ankle covering and a strange cup guard. At least there's that. Better than fighting naked I guess.
When it burst into the hall, it stretched its arms out and began screeching, the sound was loud and painful. Worse than a grenade going off. It was high pitched too. I could see Gellert fall to one knee, placing his gun on the ground and covering his ears. It must've been thrice as loud for him. His lycanthropic hearing picked up everything. He had even heard the Wretches before they had revealed themselves. As he became more agitated I could see his heterochromatic eyes become unified in colour. A bright luminous gold. The colour of the Harvest Moon.
"Wretches!" Kim shouted.
So that's what those little gremlins are called.
As the squealing amped up, the walls around us began to vibrate and dust fell to the ground. A couple of the boards from the barricaded window fell off. Meanwhile, directly above the Wretch was a set of iron bars on the roof. The hatch burst open from the Wretches squealing, and that's when they began pouring out.
"Multiple contacts!" Kim yelled.
There wasn't very much cover, but there was no need for it either. Instead, we all found a place to stand and began firing. It didn't take much to kill them. Just a couple of bullets and they're done for. However, I could see their strength easily. If too many of them got close to you, they could really do some damage. It was basically the same tactic as Death Eaters. While most were below average or just average in spell casting, enough of them could overwhelm the masses. Add that to surprise attacks and blitzkrieg, and you had Voldemort's entire strategy.
"There's too many! They're everywhere!" Dom yelled.
When they came at you, they hobbled on the ground like apes would. Fist propelling them forward with feet kicking them off the ground. In a way, they hopped across the ground. Also, they could climb apparently. Specifically, they ran across the ceiling like lycans. I'd seen Gellert do it before in hybridised wolf form, but I'd never seen another like it.
By now, Gellert was standing and fighting. There was no time for breaks in war. Even if your ears were probably bleeding out into your head. He was closer to the end of the hall, where all the Wretches were coming from. The Gnasher only worked up close, while our Lancers worked from a decent amount of range. Still, I saw him have a moment where he went stock still. Again his ears twitched.
"Arry, coming over ze gub 'ole! BEHIND US!"
Turning around, I saw that another set of Wretches were trying to emerge over the hole. Drawing up the gun, I fired at them before they could actually climb out. Rushing over to the hole, I peered over its edge to see several more crawling their way up the hole. Marcus also came up beside me, and together, we fired at the crawling bastards.
As we were taking on these guys, I could hear the others struggling to keep up the fight.
"Fall back! Fall back!" Cole yelled.
However, Kim said, "No! Hold your positions!"
That was the right call to. There was no place to fall back. Only the way we came, but where would that lead? We'd just have to come back again. With all the ruinous destruction, Sovereigns was practically a one trek road. Even if we did fall back, the Wretches would just keep chasing us.
It didn't take much longer after that. Fenix and I held the grub hole, while Gellert, Cole, and Kim fended off against the rest. Then there was silence, as the Wretches ran dry. No more little miny soldiers to send in.
"All clear," Dom called out.
Turning to the man beside me, I said, "Thanks Fenix."
He just nodded at me and said, "Yeah, sure thing. Your buddy over there made a good call out," he said, his eyes narrowing, "even before they came up." The tone wasn't accusatory, but the way his eyes peered at me, it was obvious he had questions. He didn't seem like the type for idle gossip or to pry into people's business. Evidently, he thought it might be pertinent to the mission. It's not like they weren't already a little weary. All of them, save Cole, had seen Gellert fall out of a two story building.
"Yeah, he's good like that. Keen perception, I'd say."
"Hmm," he grumbled out.
The strange, oddly pet-like bot had reached the bottom of the door with a positive beep. Kim said, "Door's open, Delta."
As the massive doors swung open, we passed through them into another room. It looked like a cross between some kind of library and a common room. A place that was once for relaxation or study. Now, it was dark and danky with ripped up throw rugs and crumbling walls and broken windows. However, none of these were immediately noticeable.
"Man, what is that smell?" Dom remarked.
"Seriously," Fenix said. "Something smells wrong in here."
Gellert even flinched and his face scrunched up. Whatever our noses were registering, it was ten times as sensitive for him. The only comparison I had was the opening of the Chamber. Turns out, that was where the basilisk had been excreting all its waste and mould and whatever else had overgrown the place. Especially with how wet everything was. Don't forget either that the basilisk used the piping of the school to travel. That was rank. Because the Chamber was soi sealed off, even the air in the various rooms had become stale. All of this made for a rather pleasant experience, and I couldn't help but compare the present to then.
"Smells vorse zan a vaste treatment plant," Gellert remarked. "Or ze local landfill."
"It's those Seeders," Cole said. "They're nasty, man. Nasty."
"Get your heads back in the fight, soldiers! Focus!" commanded Kim. "Fenix, Peverell, get over here and take these weapons." He pointed his Lancer toward two small guns that were laying on the ground. They were much smaller than any rifle or shotgun I'd seen, but a tad bigger than a Boltok revolving pistol. "Don't use them 'til I give the order."
"Aye, sir," I said, moving over with Fenix to acquire the weapon. I didn't typically carry any other weapon than my Lancer and Bokltok, so I had the room to spare. Gear armour allowed for you to carry three weapons. One pistol and two other rifles or shotguns. They also allowed you to carry four grenades. Since I only carried two weapons, I had the room. Everything else on our armour was ammo or supplies. Water and other such.
Upon picking up the weapon, I knew what it was. I'd only seen one a couple times, but all could recognise its power. All had suffered from its strike. All had been saved by its vigour. This was the targeting laser for the most powerful weapon on Sera. It was the weapon to end all wars.
In my hands… I held…
The Hammer of Dawn.
