LET'S DROP THE HAMMER

(GEARS I, ACT I: ASHES)

He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

— I John 3:8

Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

— Hebrew 2:14

(~~~~~~~~~~)

[6,100]

Hammer (Part II) — 14 A.E. House of Sovereigns, Ephrya

Kim kicked open the door leading to a water yard. I'm no architect, so it's not like I really knew what the area was for. All I knew was that we were on one side of the water, and they were on the other, and the only thing separating us was a drawbridge run by a big red wheel.

"Arry, look at zat fucker," Gellert said, pointing to the far corner of the wateryard. The beast was armoured like all the Locust creatures. I couldn't see any eyes, just a maw filled with razor blades for teeth. On top of his head, he had some kind of horns coming out. Several travelled down his back, while two that were much larger than the rest stuck out of the top of his head. There were also the eight legs. Half of his body was hidden inside a massive E-Hole, and he was propped up on his legs, four on each side of his body, straddling the E-Hole.

I saw him rear back, open his mouth, and some ball of nastiness came shooting out of him. I followed that strange ball with my eye, and watched it begin to float mid air. A nemacyst. I had seen those before. They were inkers. These small strange looking creatures that could produce ink and gas. I'd seen several on our various trips across Sera. They were cognizant, sentient, and smart too. They could even manoeuvre through the sky at relatively fast rates. I'd even seen one ram into a Raven. Although, most of the time, they just sat back and floated… looking for their next target.

"Shit, I've seen one of zose before. See, zat mouth looking thing, 'Arry?"

"Yeah."

"Zat's not its mouth. The head actually stays buried underground vith anozer Locust drone. No, zat's not its mouth, zat's it anus."

Off closeby, I heard Fenix mutter under his breath, "That is just not right." I wasn't sure if he was responding to what Gellert said, if he could even hear us, or if he was just looking at the Seeder and observing. Either way, I couldn't help but agree.

"I never knew zis zings were called Seeders," Gellert continued "but I knew zem. Zey are basically Locust anti-air and artillery. Zose Nemacyst are actually quite versatile. Zey jam communications. Zey black out ze sky for Kryll. Zey can take out Ravens. Or zey can even act like mortars. Have to hand it to ze Locust. Zey are creative, even if zey are widerlich."

Yeah no wonder this place smells so nasty. These damn Seeders are literally shitting all over our sky.

"Hold your trigger down while aiming at the Seeder," Kim said. "It gives the satellites time to triangulate."

Doing as he said, I got behind cover to where the grubs across the yard couldn't see me, but where I could still stand and aim at the Seeder. Pulling the Hammer up, I put the reticle right on the Seeder and pulled the trigger.

Unlike a gun, there was no recoil. Instead, a red laser beam came out of the device. When it touched the Seeder, it produced a small targeting circle.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

That's when the Hammer struck.

The ground literally shook underneath as this beam of death touched the Seeder. The burning flesh smell immediately filled the air alongside the Seeder's natural body odour.

The sound of the Hammer strike is one you never forget after the first witness. I first saw it in Gorosnya. One of our investigations, Branascu Military Fort, proved fruitless. Still have no idea who pulled the trigger or why in the hell the COG was in Gorosnya, after the Pendulum war.

It was a Corpser.

Fried the beast to all hell.

We just so happened to be close by.

Several Nemacysts were floating their way to us.

"Cole! Those buggers are coming right at me. Gimme some cover!" I yelled.

"I gotcha back, baby!" he said back.

I continued to hold down the trigger as the Hammer kept roaring. It's half-screeching, half-mechanical whirring, imbedding itself into the memories of all its newcomers or drawing many back to the past. A time before the Hammer strikes. A time before Gellert and I arrived.

In spite of all that was going on, I couldn't help that my eyes locked onto the beam. It was like the world's most perfectly built drill. It never rusted. Never decayed. Never whittled down. It was hard to tell which way the beam actually travelled. That's just how fast it was. Did it come down from the heavens? Did it ascend from the depths of hell? The explosions, the grenades, the bullets flying through the air, all of that just faded away.

The Hammer of Dawn was the weapon to end all wars. It should've made politicians think twice before sending good men to die. It should have stopped stubborn old men behind the desk to rethink their decision. It should have made Kings ponder their paths and surround themselves with wise counsel. Then came E-Day. Now, the Hammer was humanity's greatest weapon against the unbeatable horde.

"Hell yeah!" Dom said, as he the Hammer finished off the Seeder. I don't know what actually happened to it. All I saw was its… anus… crawl back inside its hole. Nevertheless, the Seeder was down. So, I strapped the Hammer on my back and pulled out my Lancer. There were still other grubs around.

Kim got on a bright, red wheel. He started turning it, and the bridge separating us from the Locust finally conjoined.

"C'mon Delta! Let's take 'em out," I encouraged.

Meanwhile, Cole said, "Yeah! Whoo! Bring it on, baby!

As we neared the place where the Seeder had been, I heard Fenix say, "Oh, that smells bad. What are these guys made of? Shit?"

Not long after, the last Locust was killed by Cole as he growled, "Piece of shit!"

Dom meanwhile noted, "We should use the Hammer of Dawn all the time. That things kick ass."

"I vish ve could, Dominic," said Gellert. "Ze only problem is zat ze Hammer is too situation specific."

"Grindelwald's right," said Kim. "It only works outside, and even then… only when the satellites are overheard."

"In other words, luck was on our side," I noted.

Either that… or providence.

Kim just nodded before turning to his ear piece.

"Control, this is Delta. Come in," he said.

~ Static ~

"Still no good," he murmured. "Must be more Seeders. C'mon, let's go."

"We gotta move," Cole said. "Alpha's waiting."

"Then let's get to it," I told him.

Immediately, we made our way around the corner. It took us into another building, wrapped right around from where we came. This was also another library and identical to the room we had just come from. Walking past that room, we even came across the E-Hole from earlier… except on the other side. I could see into the hallway where we had fought all the wretches.

I saw a pair of grenades laying next to the hole, so I grabbed them. I'd been out since my earlier excursions. It was amazing what was left lying around here in this war ridden world.

Passing through to the room, we came to another courtyard, this one much smaller than the previous ones we had been in. We were on the second floor and could peer down to see another Seeder. Interesting that there was a tiny courtyard here. This place is built almost as oddly as the Ministry. The Seeder was extra tight in the small area, but it was still a big enough place for it to ink up the sky.

"Fenix, you still got the Hammer of Dawn?"

He didn't say anything in response, he just got the Hammer out and went after the next one. Meanwhile, I heard Cole yell, "We got s'more!"

There were grubs rushing at us from the left and the right. Not regular Locust drones but a bunch of Wretches. While Kim, Dom, and Cole went left, Gellert and I went right. He with his shotgun and I with my Lancer.

All around us, all I could hear was the sound of the Hammer and the squealing of the beast. My body fell on auto pilot, killing the Wretches as they came up on us, but… my entire focus was on the Hammer.

A complex runic array could possibly generate just as much power as the Hammer. It would have to be some kind of concentrated heat spell. I remember that one time Gellert and I were sitting around the fire, and he explained to me how it worked. Imulsionised Crystals. The magical equivalent could be cursed fire or an incendio.

The runic array would need to have many points of contact. Star shapes were typical. Numbers three, seven, nine, eleven, and thirteen. Anything else would be extreme. Three was definitely too low. Seven was the most magical perfect, but it might not be enough. Nine and eleven were too odd and too low. But… thirteen was symmetrical enough. A thirteen pointed star left a lot of room. A trestella cross.

No… an intersecting trestella cross. It would have to be thirteen/four point polygonal. That would leave you four sets of thirteen runes… each rune representing the number seven.

You could also insert a seal of solomon in the centre. (Can't believe they named such a symbol after the man himself.) However, you'd have to skip every other corner while dividing the last point between two others. Either way… that would have the firepower behind it.

"All clear!" someone called.

Gellert would be proud of me.

The battle was over before I could keep thinking about this further. We progressed through the upper building on the left side. The right simply wrapped around to the left. There were doors on each side. The one we came through and two more that were destroyed. Only one left. The one on the left side of where we came from.

"Come on, guys!" Cole said. "We got to get Alpha!"

"Form up," Kim said.

As we moved through the main door and exited the courtyard, we immediately came up to another balcony. Unlike many of the others we saw, this one looked more like a place where an evil commander would stand.

Fenix said, "I saw something."

"Dah, zomething ran across ze balcony. I saw it too."

"Okay then," I said. "Gellert, you set up here. The rest of us will head down."

"Vilco, Arry."

The rest of us went down the stairs to come into the main room. On our way down, we were confronted by Wretches. Evidently, anytime anybody sees anything, it's Wretches. It's always Wretches.

"Oh yeah!" Fenix said, as he took 'em both down. There was also another set of grenades in the hall, but he picked up those with a "Sweet."

Coming down the stairs, we came across the dead Seeder. This one wasn't back in its hole like the other. Instead, it was half in the hole and half out, suspended by the weight of its body. Its body was burned to char like barbeque that'd been left on the fire for days too long.

As we got in the courtyard, Kim said, "Control, this is Delta. Do you copy?"

The lady's voice came online this time, but there was still some jamming in the signal.

"Copy, Delta. Your signal is extremely weak, over."

"Guess there must be more Seeder then, right?" I said.

"Yeah, must be," Fenix responded.

"We are working on that problem. En route to Alpha's position, over."

Then, another voice came on the coms.

"Delta, this Two-Four. Repeat, please. Are you with Alpha? Is the PZ clear? Running low on fuel, over."

The tac/com signal must be jammed bad enough that the King Raven's were misinterpreting our messages.

"Negative, Two-Four! Negative!" Kim shouted. As if shouting would somehow make you more coherent over the coms. "Stand by." Nothing else came over the coms, and we just watched him for a moment, seeing what our leader would do. Finally, he just sighed and said, "Move out."

We finally entered the room that the balcony was overlooking. There were four columns in the room and a couple of wooden benches. Honestly, the place looked more like a Church than it did a governmental building. Maybe this was some kind of minor courtroom.

Upon entering the room, we heard the growl of the grubs.

"Hostiles!"

"Hominides!"

Pressing my fingers to my ears, I said, "Lay down some suppression, Gellert."

Kim and Dom went after the Wretches that were charging us, while Fenix and I tackled the drones. Meanwhile, Gellert shot at anything that he could get a hold of. It mostly ended up being surprise Wretches. Ones that snuck up on your back.

When there were none left, I talked to Gellert and said, "C'mon, mate. Just down the stairs and past the Seeder. We've still got to find Alpha."

"Keep on," he said. "I vill double-time it."

As we came into the next room, we found a dead Gear on the ground. Blood splattered around his body.

"What is this?" Dom said.

Meanwhile, Cole came over and ripped off his COG tags. "Shit," he cursed. "It's Rojas."

I felt a lump form in my throat. He was the guy Dom had mentioned early. The guy who had a kid. Whose kid had just had a birthday.

As pissed off as I was at the situation, I couldn't help but be relieved at the fact that I didn't know the guy. Not like I knew Carmine. Even if it was only briefly.

It seemed like they all decided not to even mention it. Instead, Dom said to Fenix, "Maybe I didn't do you any favours gettin' you out of prison."

So that's where he was. Some of the things he said beforehand now makes sense. Especially after he disappeared for so long. He'd been in prison all this time. Now that… sucks. The fuckin ministry did the same shit to me.

Still… if his prison experience was anything like mine, then Dom couldn't be more wrong.

"Let's go," he said, while also asking Dom, "What's all this shit about Hoffman's operation and his resonator?"

"If I understand it," Gellert said, inserting himself into the conversation. Apparently he showed up silently. Faster than I thought he could. Bloody wolf. "Colonel Hofman wants to use a resonator to map ze tunnels of ze Locust's horde, because… as zeir name implies, ze resonate. A lot of vibrations. Like a bat. Zey come back to ze resonator and zey transmit to the lady on ze coms. Voila! Map of ze Locust's tunnels. After zat, Hoffman could get a bomb down zere and direct it ze way that he vants to."

"Umm… wow…" Kim stuttered. "That's right… how did you…?"

"I study."

"He studies."

We both had spoken at the same time.

"Well, anyways that's correct. Colonel Hoffman and Command think this could take out the Locust's in one shot. Mapping out their tunnels will allow us to send a bomb straight to the heart of their operations. Then, we can rip it right out."

(~~~~~~~~~~)

Wrath

We came into the next room, which looked like a broken down lounge. A portrait of some COG big-whig was hung up on the centre column supporting the room. Immediately, we were engaged in a firefight against a duo of Locust. Fenix and I were quick to dispatch them.

The door from which they came from led to a broken bridge. The bridge was meant to connect two of the main buildings of Sovereign together. I have to admit, the longer I'm in this building, the more I feel like I'm exploring Hogwarts for the first time. The whole damn place was sunken in.

"Marcus! Down there," Dom called out. "Seeder!"

Indeed, where the bridge should have been connected, right under it was a Seeder. It was spewing up gunk and grime and other such nastiness. Just the same as the rest.

"Last one," Kim said. "Here we go."

There were grubs in the other buildings firing over at us, and parallel to us, just to the right, there was a second bridge connecting the two buildings. This one had Locust on it as well.

Together, Fenix and I were behind the same cover on the broken bridge.

"Fenix," I said. "You take out the Seeder. I'll provide covering fire."

His sapphire blues locked with mine, and he just nodded.

"Alright."

Pressing my finger on the com, I said "Gellert, cover Fenix and I from the Nemacysts until he can shut that thing down. The rest of you hang back. There ain't a lot of room on this bridge."

"You got it, 'Arry," he said. The rest didn't respond.

After a sniper shot went off, taking out the clear present Nemacysts, I got up first with a roar, and began firing at the Locust adjacent to us and across from us. There were two across from us and one on the bridge parallel to us. My goal was to make sure that if any one of those bastards poked their heads up, they'd get riddled with bullets. Until one did, I was simply targeting their cover.

Beside me, I heard that now presently familiar beep… beep… beep and saw the Hammer triangulate itself together. As the beams came together, the Hammer struck, a vibrating piercing the ground and travelling up through my boots and to my teeth. The grub on the bridge tried to run back inside the building, and that's when I pumped him full of Lancer shots. He went down like a sack of shit.

So, I trained my gun on the two across from us

There was an exhilaration to this kind of warfare. Nobody could deny the pain and suffering that came from losing a friend or fellow-Gear. On the other hand… we were fighting back. I'd killed Locust before, but in these past few hours, I'd killed more grubs than in the last two years I'd been here. And even though I was raised as a good Christian boy, I couldn't stop the hatred that had festered in the corners of my mind.

Call it… a biological imperative…

Even though I wasn't from here, after seeing how many people the Locust had killed, I hated these bastards… just as much as the Death Eaters. I didn't want them to be tortured or anything but—I wanted us to win.

There was a wailing cry as the Seeder burned in the Hammer strike. It rose out of the ground, trying to avoid the strike, but by then the damage had been done. It spun around in circles, slamming into buildings and other such, knocking chunks out of brick, and smearing its gore all over the buildings. It even knocked down the adjacent bridge. Then, it flopped over dead.

"That's three for three," Fenix said.

"Control, this is Delta. Come in," Kim said.

"I copy, Delta. Loud and clear!" came the voice of the nice blonde lady.

A sigh of relief was exhaled by each member of our squad. Even Gellert seemed happy at knowing there weren't anymore of them.

"Now zats a victory," he said, reaching behind himself. From his utility belt, he pulled out a small, white cartridge with a big red logo on it. Lucky Strikes. He pulled one out, before offering one to the rest of us.

"Thanks man, but I'm alright," Dom said,

The big man just laughed and said, "Sorry baby, but the Coltrane ain't about that."

Fenix just shook his head in the negative.

"Nah, mate. I'm alright," I told him.

Kim just shook his head at Gellert, before continuing with Control. "All Seeders are neutralised," he said. "Moving to Alpha's location now, over."

"That's great news, Delta. Stand by for Alpha, over."

A new voice came on the com. Not deep and grumbly like Fenix or loud and also grumbling like the Colonel nor even high and rambunctious like Cole. It was a middle timbre. He was speaking fast and was winded.

"This is Alph!" he said. "Where the hell are you guys?"

A grin broke out on Cole's face and he pressed his ear to his own com to say, "Baird! Oh shit, man. Where you been?"

Meanwhile, Kim said, "Delta Squad is in the House of Sovereigns, over."

"Well that's just great!" the voice now known as Baird said. "We're fucking pinned down by Troikas on your rooftop, over!"

"Understood. Sit tight. We'll take them out, over."

"We're not going anywhere, Sir!"

"Delta out."

"Vell, zis Baird guy sounds like quite ze character," he said, his lit cigarette moving between his lips as he spoke.

"Hey, Baird's one of the best, baby. He just takes some getting used to, yah know?" Cole said.

"I can't say I blame the guy," I said. "He and his squad have been pinned down while we've been trying to figure shit out."

"Right," Fenix said. "And if we don't double-time it, they might not make it."

"Agreed," Kim said. "Find those troikas."

At that moment, as we were speaking, the door to the right of us, began sparking from the other side as an acetylene torch began piercing it from the top down. Just as the robot, Jack they had called it, had done earlier.

"Hostiles!" Cole called out.

Gellert and I immediately moved to each side of the door. Looking at the hinges, I knew the door would burst open in our direction, so we manoeuvred ourselves in such a way that we were just clear of it.

Fenix and the others took cover behind whatever else they could find. They even took cover behind furniture like couches, which in my world would make no sense, but in this world, with the way they built things, who knows? I'd survived Longshots behind a couch before.

"Get ready," Kim said. "Here they come."

At the same time, there was a Locust's growl at the other side.

The doors flew open, and the Locust opened fire on us. They began to march into the room, and when the last one had cleared the door, that's when Gellert and I struck. He with his Gnasher and I with my chainsaw Lancer. Revving it up drew their attention back behind them, but by then, I already had the chainsaw running across his body, from his shoulder blade to his hip.

Blood splattered all across my armour, but I didn't stop there.

Immediately, I trudged on to the next grub. I drove the Lancer into his sternum and brought it downwards and to the side. Finally, I pushed into the last one before me. This guy tried to block with his Gnasher. I cut right through it, but there wasn't enough time to bring the Lancer back up again for chainsawing. So, I just pulled the trigger, blind firing into the Locust. The bullets riddled his stomach and came out his back.

Six Locusts in total was all there was.

Gellert had taken three. I the other three. Meanwhile, the rest of Delta squad was just watching us. Dom and Kim with surprised looks, Fenix with an appreciative nod, and Cole with a big old grin.

"Yeah baby! That was beautiful."

Gellert grinned back at the man, lit cigarette still hanging from his mouth, though shorter than before.

"C'mon, guys," I said. "We gotta go."

Together, we all began roadie running through the building. We made our way right, as the pathway left would have led us right to the downed Seeder and the bridge that he had just knocked off. Hopefully that wasn't our route. I didn't know this area like these guys did, but I knew there was no other way to go.

I got my answer when we came to the next room. There was rubble blocking the right half of the room, but from the left we could hop over the debris. This room also had a giant hole in the wall allowing us to see a firefight going down. There was fire coming in from the street at a large building. Built just like a Roman mausoleum. Everything in Ephyra was though.

"There they are, man! Yeah!"

"Alpha, we have visuals on your location," Kim said.

In turn, Baird said, "We'd like to have YOUR AMMO on our location right now, over!"

"Wilco," Kim said. "Delta out."

"You know what, Arry? I like zis guy."

"He reminds me of Alby, a little bit. Quite the smartass, only Alby wasn't such a hardass. But, this war will do that to you."

"Yes it vill."

We kept moving through the House of Sovereigns, trying to find a way to the roof. The path we went took us right leading down a long hallway. We came across a dead Gear there, but his Boltok pistol was still intact. Dom traded his sidearm for it.

"So what exactly is the Tomb of the Unknowns?" I said. "I mean, I can guess, but a little more would be helpful."

"That Tomb houses two types of heroes, soldier," Kim said. "The graves of unknown Gears that lost their lives in the Pendulum wars."

"And ze others?"

"Those who've been awarded the Embry star in battle."

The Embry Star was a big deal. It was this world's equivalent to Britain's Victoria Cross or the American's Medal of Honour. It was the highest award any Gear could get for special services in combat. The ceremony for such an award was typically held right here in Embry Square, just outside Sovereigns.

"My brothers buried there," Dom said. If he knew his brother was buried there, then that meant he was one of those people. As far as I understood, Fenix was also one of those who had earned the Star.

Following down the hall, we turned right, and came to a lecture hall of sorts. Books on each side, several desks on the floor, and a big ole' podium. We were confronted with a single grub wielding his own Boltok. We made quick work of him, but he had come from another corridor. Following it down, we came across a lot of grubs and a lot of rubbish. Light streaming in through the ceiling from all the broken up concrete.

"Throwin' frag!" I called out, breaking up the grubs centred structure. They scattered like a flock of ravens. That made it easy for each of us to pick on one after the other, and before we knew it, they were all dead. But the battle wasn't over. We tried to move into the next hall, the only path we could take, but immediately twin gatling gun bullets flew down the hall.

"Troika!" Kim shouted.

"I can't get a shot on him," Gellert called out. "Ze terrain is blocking my sight and ze Troika won't let me get a hit on his body."

"Alright, then we'll move in slowly. Like a fucking game of Dodge the Stunner."

I threw myself to the ground. There was a small set of stairs in front of me. Barely elevating the ground by about four feet, but it gave me all the cover I needed. As I crawled towards the Troika, I saw a second hallway which led to the side. It also curved towards the Troika.

That's our opening.

I wasn't sure if they'd be able to hear me over the sound of the gatling Troika, so I pressed my ear to my coms and said, "Get in here, Delta. Lay low and go right. There's a passage off to the side. If you take it, you might be able to flank. I'll keep drawing his fire. Double-time! Double-time!"

Doing the best that I could, I began firing above the Troika. I couldn't quite see it from my vantage point, but I knew where he was. This way I'd draw his attention while Delta squad moved in.

I don't know how long I held that position, but I heard the distant sound of other gunfire coming from the side. Every now and then, I'd blind fire at the Troika that way he kept his fire on me while the other guys snuck around.

Until the fire stopped.

"It's all clear, Private Peverell," I heard Kim say over the coms.

Then, Gellert's voice came over. Rushed. "No! It is not. 'Arry, get over here. Now. Now. Now."

Not questioning my most trusted friend, I simply got up and began running.

"Oh shit," Dom said.

"C'mon Peverell!" Fenix shouted.

Running towards the sandbags, I dover over them, landing on my back stomach, but clear of the hallway.

"Wretches!" Dom shouted.

"Man that Troika," Kim commanded.

Fenix immediately jumped on the Troika. Collecting myself together, I crawled towards the sandbags, and peered over them to see a horde of Wretches running down the hall. It didn't take long though. With the power of the Troika minigun, he made quick work of them.

I flopped over on my back and stared up at the damaged and decaying ceiling. A sigh of relief escaped my mouth. Numbers like that could have torn me to pieces. That was the true power of the Wretches. No matter how good of a Gear you were, a swarm of Wretches could tear you apart. One mistimed reload. Hell, one reload!

A hand stuck itself into my field of vision. It was blurry for a second, my focus having shifted. Shaking my head, the world became clear to me and I followed the hand. It led to the scarred up face and bandana wrapped head of one Marcus Fenix.

"Up and at 'em kid," he said. "You did good."

Nodding, I accepted the hand, and he pulled me up.

"Shake it off," he said. "We still got to find Alpha."

In this moment, it was easy to remember that Fenix was nearly double my age. You had to be 18 to enlist in the COG. Perhaps the only humane thing they ever did. The guy had fought through the Pendulum wars. Those ended nearly 14 years ago. Which meant he had to be an adult by the time he joined. 18 plus 14 years plus however long he fought in those wars. Oh yeah, the dude was old.

And for some reason, in some strange way, it felt like having your older brother compliment you.

"C'mon kid."

I nodded and said, "Thanks Fenix."

(~~~~~~~~~~)

We kept making our way through Sovereigns. The only thing lighting our path was the holes in the ceiling all along the way. We passed through several corridors. Fancy ones. Boring ones. Simple hallways. We even came across a room that had a statue of someone who looked awfully like the Colonel. A couple of grubs here and there but not many problems.

Not much of interest happened until we came to a massive room. Bigger than any we had been in before. It was circular, with statues of various men from the COG's history around it, each striking their own battle pose of some kind. The room had a centre table, a small section of flooring, and then there was a six foot wall which made another circle. That's where the statues were. Past them was a set of benches that also acted like stairs.

I knew the symbol on the centre table. It represented the Octus Canon.

This was the main chamber. It was the courtroom and the place of voting within the COG government. From this place stemmed all of the COG. Not only was Ephyra the capital of Tyrus, but the House of Sovereigns was the capital of Ephyra, and this room was the capital Sovereigns. The all in all in all of the COG.

This was the Commons of Britain. The trial room of the Wizengamot.

"This building used to be a beautiful place," Kim said. "There's a lot of history here."

The Lieutenant's voice was full of awe and reverence. Clearly he was a by the books kind of guy. He likely respected the COG. In small ways, he reminded me of Gellert. Though Gellert was unorthodox, fierce, and quite the law breaker, he seemed to have the unending respect for authority. It's why he supported the ministry even when I didn't. It's why he supported the Hogwarts staff. It's why he followed me so closely… sometimes without question. He was my vassal after all.

Fenix, on the other hand, didn't seem quite so fond of it.

"A lot of lies, too," he murmured out.

"Oh, you've got some nerve, soldier," Kim growled out. "I know all about your trial."

"His trial was a sham," Dom said. Then, as if it was an afterthought, he added, "Sir."

Cole chose to say nothing. He wasn't the type of guy into people's business. Gellert also raised an eyebrow, but didn't say much. (I also couldn't help but notice that he had another cigarette in his mouth.) I, on the other hand, couldn't hold myself back.

"I was raised under the shadows of my dead parents. They were war heroes. Still to this day, I think that I'd damn the whole world if it meant I could have them back. But of course… how could the COG ever understand that."

All eyes turned to me, even Fenix stopped and stared. His eyes were odd and unreadable. Gellert was just grinning with that cigarette hanging out his mouth. He knew I pretty much despised authority, so it couldn't be helped. Cole, like always, was expressionless. Rather, he didn't show any deep interest. He just turned towards me out of the common courtesy of hearing my voice. Dom, on the hand, there was a glint in eyes, a small smile beginning to form. I don't know what that's about. As for Kim, he looked like he wanted to say something, to berate the newly recruited COG, but I was already at the top of the steps leading to the chamber's balcony.

There was a Locust drone on a Troika. He was firing down at the Tomb of the Unknowns. Revving up my chainsaw, I came up behind him. He couldn't hear me over the sound of his gunfire, so I took my time, flipping my gun upside down, I drove it through his stomach, and ran it back out his head.

The fight was back on, and words that needed to be said could be said later.

"That street is the pickup zone," said Lieutenant Kim in my earpiece. "We need to clear it. That means no Locust on the ground and no Nemacysts in the air!"

"You got it boss," I said. "Gellert pick off whatever you can with your Boltshot. Fenix and I still got the targeting weapon. As for the rest of you, get on the Troikas. There should be one for each of you. One of you clear the air, while the other two focus fire on the ground."

"Hell yeah," Dom said, and this time he responded to me with great enthusiasm. A strange change from our limited but previous interactions.

Fenix and I got behind cover together to discuss. I could already hear the Troika fire going off as well as the grubs on the ground returning fire.

He turned to me, as though asking, 'what's next?'

"Okay, you start on that far end," I said, jerking my head over to our left, "and I'll start on this side. We fire 'em and meet in the middle."

"Does that even work?" he asked. "Never heard of anyone firing multiple Hammers unless it was Command, and they did that from HQ."

Locking my eyes with his, emerald green on sapphire blue, I nodded.

"It can't hurt to try."

His lip just folded, as if saying, 'why not?' He nodded and together, we stood up over cover now.

"Alright Fenix, let's drop the Hammer.