The New Locust Era

by Dreyfuss Kiroven

In an Alternative Reality, an alternative version of Sera, The Locust survive and win the Locust-Lambent War against the COG; As the Gears continue to battle the locust in order to survive, fortresses fall and strongholds are destroyed by the emboldened Locust Horde. As the War rages on, Queen Myrrah welcomes a new generation of Locusts, with the help of some unexpected "allies".

3. Planning for the Future

ELEVEN MONTHS, TWENTY FIVE DAYS AFTER THE IMULSION COUNTERMEASURE-

Its been a tough days for the humans at Anvil Gate even with their newfound courage and confidence thanks to Jackson's attack on The Maw and the rescue of over sixteen different Prisoners of Wars over the last ten days. After the rescue, the locust have been assaulting Anvil Gate with artillery fire and firing at the fort with Snipers; Unfortunately this meant that most of the Anvil Gate soldiers and civilian personnel had to avoid the open spaces near gates and walls.

Charlie Squad has United with Foxtrot squad to repel any locust that try to sneak into the fort, as a punishment for attacking a hornet's nest. So far McKenzie has killed six locust drones and three grenadiers that thought they were slick by sneaking by the damaged back gate, where the Lambent Berserker attacked Delta nearly a year ago. So far three people had died by mortars and five had been killed by snipers, head-shots so no one survived.

Hoffman was particularly steaming about the whole ordeal but Bernie calmed him down after informing him about the intelligence retrieved from the Maw. It was discovered that Queen Myrrah was sickly and she's been kept close by to the Maw, in one of the forts nearby. Other things were also learned like that the locusts are being lead by the once thought dead General RAAM and finally that the locust were planning a major assault on Anvil Gate in the following weeks. Jackson had made it his personal task to destroy the heart of the Locust attack force: A Old Fort not far from the Forest that surrounds Anvil Gate, called The Queen's Landing.

However before he could attack the Queen's Landing, he had to assault an Outpost not far from their current location, which McKenzie has scout in the past and discovering that it was a locust weapon and armor forging Outpost. if Jackson was to take that outpost he could outfit every man and woman with weapons necessary for a strong defense and offense. So he was determined to convince Hoffman about his plan to take the Locust forge and quickly assassinate the Locust Leadership.

Regardless of what he wanted to do, he had something big to do first, that was to kill RAAM and/or Skorge, the two generals of the Locust Horde, if one General dies it could stunt the Locust operations for enough time for the COG to reclaim some solid ground. Thanks to McKenzie, it has been confirmed that RAAM travels on reaver while Skorge travels via land caravan, same route, same time and same amount of protection. However taking Skorge was exponentially easier than taking RAAM, seeing as the Kantus Monk was protected by Savage Locusts, Not Elites.

He had planned the way to attack Skorge but he needed Hoffman's approval on it as he was still angry about the entire situation prior. he had to convince him somehow as he was not allowed to leave the fort for any reason, Hoffman was so pissed in fact that if it wasn't because of the 1st LTN's intervention, Jackson would have been Demoted back to a Private. Sargent Jackson was currently loading up on ammo with his communicator in a open channel:

"This is Privat- -static-... We need assistance at the western wall!... We have Snipers and we're pinned down, we have casualties over here, we need assistance!... -Loud gunshot followed by static-" As Jackson heard the communication he ran towards the Western side as hard as he could.

He runs from the southern wall towards the western side, stopping to see the three dead Gears laying in different positions near the stairs; with what he could see they died from headshots or lethal wounds around the torso and/or neck, if the blood was any indication. Afterwards he quickly gets into cover next to McKenzie who's in a snipe-off against a whole squad of Locust snipers about one hundred yards away, he had a piece of chalk next his spot and a cup of coffee on the other side. Jinx grabs a very old helmet with a pipe, then slowly lifts it up so it resembles a gear peeking out the cover. A second after the helmet is at visor level with the edge of the cover, a bullet launches the helmet flying away, just as the helmet is sent flying away Jinx takes aim quickly and fires a round in less time it takes to yell out "Sniper!":

Jinx: Ugh, sloppy... neck. -he groaned loudly, quickly marking up another tally on the wall next to him; he then turns to look at Jackson-... Sup Battle-Buddy, what's cooking? -he shakes his hand firmly, then he loads in another round into the chamber, launching the spent casing out. He then starts poking out in a very quick motion, ducking as a round blurred by his head then he takes aims and shoots, marking another tally shortly after-

Jackson: Been running the Wall, shooting any grubs that get ballsy, how 'bout you? -he looks to the wall next to his friend, seeing a tally count of sixteen just above them is "KILLS", next to it there's "WOUNDS" with three tallies, He turns to look at McKenzie who is giving him a "What do you think?" look-... Right, stupid question... Alright this is the deal I need you to come with me to talk to Colonel Hoffman about clapping Skorge, you in?

Jinx: Fuck yes, just let me finish up here... mind yer 'ead. -he quipped in a fake Irish accent, getting a nod from Jackson just as a Round flew by the Sargent's head-

"This is Specialist Travis requesting additional forces at the front wall, we have a man down!... -she grunts, mutters something that's inaudible-... come on, don't give up private, need a medic here now!... -there's more loud gunfire, probably next to her-... shit, come on don't die my friend... -explosion followed by static-" As the transmission cut off, Jackson quickly roadie ran towards the stairwell, jumping into cover to avoid getting killed by a sniper.

Jackson walked next to cove, without leaving its safety as he made his way till he reached the stairwell down to the courtyard. As he peeked down the stairs he quickly noticed that there's plenty of deep holes, lots of blood and viscera lining the stairwell wall. he then took a deep breath and tactical roll'd down the stairs nearly getting killed by sniper fire. After he stood up at the bottom of the stairs he quickly make his way to the front wall where he saw Henry taking cover behind a large concrete column and Specialist Travis trying to save the life of a Gear Private who was bleeding profusely from his neck. Henry was not wearing any armor but was wearing an old tattered COG uniform with the sleeves torn off, his waist had a thick utility belt were most tools were replaced by knives and small objects like a rusted copper pocket watch, oddly enough:

SPC Travis: Don't close your eyes!... -she ordered in her calmed demeanor as she put pressure on the hole on the side of his neck, the gear in question was shaking violently as she held him-... Come on, I NEED A MEDIC! -she yelled out towards her left where six Gears were in cover or firing at the Boomers and Grinders outside-

Gear Private: It's... be~en... an... honor... s-spe-speecial-li-sst~...-he gripped her hand tightly before his head fell back limply, dying in her arms-

Travis: No!... Goddamnit!... -she said in anger, gently placing him down and taking his Cog tags, quickly seeing SGT Jackson take cover by her side, she punched the wall next to her in frustration, earning a look from Jackson-

Jackson: We'll avenge him... -he says quickly to her-... but now I need you to get your head back in the fight Travis. -he handed her a Lancer From the ground-... I'm planning going General Hunting, you in? -he asks as he shot a Boomer that approached the gate, he took him down after emptying a full magazine to his chest-

Travis: Fuck yes... -she said with a angry smile before she moved away from Jackson and the fallen gear she tried saving, opening fire at a Grinder that was getting a bit too close for comfort-... DIE YOU SONS OF BITCHES!

Henry gets his gargantuan body in cover next to Jackson and kills a Grinder with a direct impact from his Boomshot, he reloaded his weapon and fired again this time at a bunch of locusts hiding behind a large line of sandbags. A boomshot round flies over their heads and explodes just above them, sending dust and cinders onto their shoulders. Henry exhales hard and takes in a calmed and deep breath before standing up and firing his boomshot towards a Boomer's feet, the explosion launching the gibs a few feet in the air and leaving a crater on the ground. He loaded in his last shot but before he could fire it, a sniper round nearly took his head off, prompting him to lower his head underneath cover:

Jackson: I don't need to ask you Henry... -he quickly spoke to Henry who fired a boomshot towards the area where the snipers were hiding; Jackson saw as a bunch of limbs and blood flew up to the sky by the blast-... But I feel like you're coming one way or another.

Henry: You're correct my friend, I will be part of this endeavor... -he quickly tosses the boomshot aside, switching to a hammerburst and raining hell onto the Locusts-... to kill Skorge, that locust warrior defeated many great men and women, it would be an Honor to avenge them all. -he says calmly, reloading his Hammerburst-

Grapplers begin climbing up the wall promoting Travis knock them down, one of the grapplers was in the middle of climbing up of the wall when Travis chainsaw off the Locust's hands causing him to crash down to the ground. Another locust climbed up but was grabbed by Henry and got power-bombed against a thick wooden crate, then the monster of a man proceeded to flatten the grappler's head underneath his enormous boot. The Sargent winces a bit at Henry's strength and sheer power, relieved that Henry is in his side.

As Jackson is moving towards the back of the fort, more locusts leap up unto the wall then Travis and Henry start quickly killing them with a single boltok and their own physical strength; Travis killed three drones with her boltok before tossing it to Henry who quickly snatches it from the air shooting a grenadier in the neck before beating another in the head with the boltok revolver. Then Henry killed another drone before turning towards Travis who's in a fist fight with a Elite Grenadier, he quickly kicks his leg from underneath him following it up by snapping the Grenadier's neck in an awkward angle.

Travis: You have to teach me 'ow to do that... -she says to him as they duck under cover and peak out to see how many locust remain around-... That was bloody awesome.

Henry: It's all on the wrist and bicep. -he simply says before grabbing the boltok and returning it to her-... I believe this is yours.

Travis: You're such a Gentleman, thank you. -she smiles at him, retrieves her boltok, loaded in a single round before firing and shooting a Sniper that was trying to relocate closer to the fort, the sniper hits the floor face first into the mud below-

Henry: You got a beautiful smile and a impeccable shot. -he says to her as he fires his hammerburst towards a lone Boomer, he throws a bolo grenade towards the Boomer, turning him to gibs a two seconds later-

Jackson: Get a room you two... -he shouts comically before standing up and firing at the retreating Locust forces-

He quickly goes to check on the other gears, a few scrapes and non-lethal gunshots, nothing too serious. After that he does an ammo check, seeing that the Gears there were yellow on rounds while green on water and special gear. As he walks around quickly searching for more locust to repel he hears another broadcast on his Tac-comm:

"We have locust attacking the Eastern wall, we could always get a few additional guns. I'll really appreciate some assistance, we have three men down and there's a few more Locust to mop up!" -said a private through the communicator, then it shut down abruptly-

Jackson by now had already began heading towards the Eastern side of the fort where he believed that Mika was; he noticed that the locust had stop shelling the fort and started to dwindle in numbers, which as a good sign. He quickly made his way over there and shot three drones that had manage to sneak inside the fort, he duck into a stack of boxes for cover, he poke out and shot one in the head before rushing the other two; he jumps over the barricade, kicking one in the face then ducking underneath the others attack, pulling out his dagger and quickly stabbing him in the abdomen six times. He got tackled down by the remaining drone but he used his momentum against him by spinning himself on top of the drone and stabbing him in the neck then recovering his lancer and running towards the Eastern wall.

As he arrived he quickly saw Holligan, Mika and Larr among other gears shooting a large group of Locust taking cover behind a whole bunch of conveniently placed Debris, much to Mika's annoyance. A locust squad of Grapplers began climbing up, three fell thanks to Mika but the other six leaped up and ended up killing two gears. Holligan retro-charged one and threw his body over the wall, getting saved by Larr who blew off a locust that was going to stab Holligan; Mika sprayed her Retro-Lancer at the remaining four, killing two and knocking the other two onto their knees, Larr finished off one by cracking his longshot on the back of his head while Jackson went old school and curb stomped the other. Mika takes a round to the shoulder and takes cover angrily firing at the Locust down below:

Mika: See this shit why is that when we're in the middle of a fucking firefight that some random act of God creates cover?! -she shouts as she burst fires a retro-lancer, she sees a Gear get killed next to her by quick spray from a hammerburst-... Fuck!

Larr: Good news is that the siege is over, the locust aren't sending any more troops our way. -he quickly adds as he pulls the bolt forward on the Longshot he's holding-... we just need to mop up the stragglers. -he fires and hits a locust in the chest, killing him where he stood-

Holligan: Goddamn piece of ass! -he shouts frustrated as his Retro-Lancer jammed-

Jackson quickly grabs a incendiary grenade from his belt and blind tosses it over his shoulder towards the Locusts, by the screams of agony he counts two roasted grubs. Afterwards he lifts his lancer up the cover and helps the gears finish off the last few Locust that are left. After they're clear the gears begin moving about while Mika looks at Jackson, seeing how different he looked from the last time they spoke (Four days ago) as any thing could happen in 96 hours.

Jackson had started shaving his head bald, It looked very smooth so it had been shaven today. He had kept his beard, instead of shaving it off like he would normally do, specially around the sideburns and the goatee area were it seemed trimmed. Other parts like the mustache and the sides of his jaw were much controlled and smaller. the tiny archipelago of small cuts and wounds long healed where located all around the left side of his face; on his neck he had a wrapping of bandages and he had a small line of bandages on his left eyebrow. he had a few more tools strapped to his waist than before, alongside a weathered pendulum era bayonet knife.

Jackson: How are you holding up Mika? -he asked as Mika checked her watch and quickly took the Cog Tags off the fallen gear next to her-

Mika: Lost three good men today and maybe a dozen more throughout the fort. -she said serious, looking around to show Jackson the other two men who perished in the Locusts attack-... plus the lack of depth perception is also a big issue. -she tried lowering the tension in the air-

Mika was now wearing an eye-patch, her armor was a female onyx guard uniform without the sleeves which were replaced by small shoulder guards. she had a snub pistol strapped on her thigh and a Gnasher on her back, while she had three small knives strapped tightly on her right forearm guard and both her hands were firmly wrapped in black bandages. her hair was no longer up to her chin but cut short into a Edgy pixie haircut with enough hair were it could be comb, even still it looked feminine and like her style. Everyone knew that Mika refused to have ponytails or braids, long hair or any "girly" haircuts, she had a strong distaste for people who value their hair like if it was more important than a limb. Her skin was decorated with small bruises, cuts and dried blood droplets around her face, not taking away from her young beauty.

Her hatred for the Boomer that carved her eye had changed her, she took to hitting the rack harder to toughen and strengthen her body as a way to distract herself from what she considered a failure. Her once petite look was replaced with a slightly muscular still petite build where she looked more imposing than before. She trained harder than others because she felt weak and her hatred against the Boomer was almost as much as her hatred for her own weakness. Jackson knew she felt this way so he had tried helping her but you can't do much when the person doesn't want to accept help.

Jackson: I'm planning to hunt a Locust General, so that's why I'm asking. -he said softly, seeing that Holligan and Larr where not around, he then continue to talk to her-... Are you okay?... -she was going to answer but he stopped her-... No bullshit, I want the truth.

Mika: -Deep sigh-... I'm doing better, Jinx is helping me a lot. -she touches her eyepatch then looks at Jackson-... Who are we hunting?... the bastard? -Her eye light up with fury and anger plus excitement for a moment, she looked away to hide her reaction when she realized that she got closer to him-

Jackson: No, Jinx hasn't been able to track that big fucker but we're hunting Skorge. -he says with small grin-... but first we have to take over an Outpost not far from here, the grubs go there to make weapons and armor. If we take it we might have enough to successfully attack them where it hurts, kill their General and take advantage of the chaos to slip away unnoticed.

Mika: I'm in. -she simply says before she starts helping the medics who are retrieving the fallen gears-... you'll have to talk to CLN Hoffman, I'm aware that we're still under his watchful eyes, specially if we're planning to leave Anvil Gate. -she said that last part quietly-

Jackson: I know, I'm tired of sitting around waiting to be picked off by Grubs... We're heading out and setting fire to any locust outpost we find, then who knows we'll recruit enough people to take a city like Mercy or Char back from the Locust. -he said with grin, proceeding to move away from Mika who now began helping the Medics pick up the dead-

Jackson looked down to a locust corpse, noticing that the drone had a small cluster of yellow shards growing off his neck, he pulled his knife out and dug out one. he gave the Gem a closer look seeing that it was completely solid, sharp and it shined almost like Imulsion, before he headed towards the command center he looked at a medic starting to drag away a locust body:

Jackson: Hey... I need you to do me a favor, keep an eye on locust bodies that have these crystals. -he showed it to the medic-... if you find like four or five with the crystals, take them to the lab I want to investigate this further, understood? -The medic nodded and continued his work-

He then walked towards the main courtyard seeing McKenzie slowly walk down the stairs towards the main courtyard's left side where there's a Old Junky centaur that McKenzie had been trying to repair for a while, as he approached the tank he placed his Sniper Rifle on his back and took off his helmet showing off a rare sight:

Jack McKenzie was a handsome young man with little to no blemishes, a small and very tamed beard, deep emerald eyes and dirty blonde hair similar to Chris Hemsworth; His face looks like a nineteen year old Nathan Drake or Bruce Wayne from the "Dark Knight" movie but a few years younger. He had his helmet underneath his armpit as he walked down the stairs with a big smile on his face, he then looks at Jackson:

Jinx: Whoooo... Five days before the big attack and it seems they're testing our defenses or is it just me? -he says, without his helmet, Jinx sounded like a younger Nolan North with a slight Californian accent-

Jackson: They are... by the way, why take off your helmet? -he looks at him, noticing that he has somewhat flowy hair, it was the same hair cut that "Thor" has in "Ragnarok" but a half inch higher-... Oh I see why you wear a helmet, your fuckin' hair...

Jinx: Have a problem with my hair? -he says defensively-... cuz I've been trying to get it to grow for a few months now.

Jackson: Well... we're not in a proper military anymore so... fuck cutting it short right?... -he quickly says-

Jinx: Fuck You too, bald headass... -he comically said with a chuckle-... but I am supposed to be a Captain but I never officially got promoted. -he quickly said-... back to business, do you think we'll be able to repel the Locust siege that's coming?

Jackson: Is that cold feet I feel? -he said seriously with a hint of sarcasm-... Hope it's not.

Jinx: Fuck no, just saying that we took heavy shelling today and sniper fire yet it wasn't even a big attack. -he responds-... if my assumption is correct, we should be expecting Siege-Beast and mortar fire.

Jackson: I don't think the fort can take another attack like that, we'll be crushed... but if we do our plan we could temporarily stop the attack, then bolster our defenses a bit more. -he says as he looks towards McKenzie-

Jinx: We'll have to see if luck is in our side and if we can repel a giant assault. -he says to Jackson, both heading towards the command center of Anvil Gate, passing by De la Tour ordering some privates to check the walls for structural damage-... Let's see if the Colonel lets us clap Skorge.

The two kept moving, seeing squads of gears recovering locust weapons and taking them up to storage room with a sign that reads "Ammo Dump", the Young man smiled to himself as a bunch of longshots were recovered and placed neatly in long weapon racks. Next to these racks were big ammo crates stacked on three by three cubes, there's possibly ten of these, enough ammo to attack and take other a city. Jinx looked towards his Centaur, seeing it without it's wheels and with many of it's defensive plates missing, it almost broke his heart. Both would head towards the command center, passing by a graffiti of some numbers: "11,9,12,12,5,4,0,15,18,0,2,5,0,11,9,12,12,5,4,0,9,0,3,8,15,15,19,5,0,20,15,0,19,21,18,22,9,22,5", finding it curious but kept moving nevertheless.

Jinx: Hey did you see that?... -he asks Jackson while gesturing to the Centaur-... that's my baby, I've been working on her for so long.

Jackson: I know, you've been working on that centaur since your second day here, that was almost two years ago. -he adds, he then looks around seeing a couple gears running around the command center-

McKenzie: Oh boy is rush hour in here. -he says as many gears and stranded moving around equipment and helping out wounded-

Jackson: No kidding.

The room was full with gears creating strategies to defend the fort, where to place the strongest defense and best choke points as where will be the locust coming from. There's a couple "important" gears around, Bernie and Hoffman are two more noticeable ones both standing by a circular table with a holographic map of Anvil Gate and the surrounding six miles (Map created by Damon Baird a long while ago). Among them was Staff Sargent Adams and Sargent Bland who had also been I lockdown because of Jackson's plan, aside them De la Toúara was here too.

McKenzie: Lieutenant De la Tour, any word from the scouts that left six hours ago. -he asked with genuine concern-

De la Toúara: it's Toúara... -she barked but then took a deep breath before answering his question-... and yes, I have. they were quite informative, apparently your assumption was true... there's a lot siege beasts at standby a few miles west.

McKenzie: My scouting is always on point Ma'am. -he says respectfully-

De la Toúara: I've heard, specially about this assassination mission, your target being High Priest Skorge... -she let the words hang there for a second-

Jackson and McKenzie were floored by the what she said, they knew she was going to stop them, seeing as she sucks up to the Colonel whenever she could; their plan was stopped dead in it's tracks by the Lieutenant's order:

De la Toúara: I want to join you. -if this was a cartoon, Jackson and McKenzie's eyes would grow three times their size and fly out of their skulls like balloons deflating all because of how surprised they are at her request-

Jackson: What... did you just said you want to join us?... -he tried understanding seeing her nod in response-... I thought you would stop our plans dead in their tracks...

De la Toúara: Well I was but then I heard that you were planning to kill Skorge not that big bastard that turned PFC Nisa into a cyclops. I don't do revenge missions. -she pointed at herself, then walked passed them both however she looked back at them over her shoulder and spoke-... Besides, We can't kill the Boomer yet, he has Witherswood so as long as he lives there's hope to find her.

They didn't thought about it like that, the 1st Lieutenant was still missing and more likely than not she was held prisoner by the big Boomer that tortured Mika; That Boomer was a enigma to the COG, he was never seen before and his first major action was to extract information (Unsuccessfully) from one of the best gears that Jackson, McKenzie and even Hoffman had the pleasure to train.

Mika Nisa was a experienced gear, been wearing the uniform since Vectes after her father was killed by Lambent forces trying to protect some stranded wanting to escape the lambent. She essentially enlisted and started wearing the colors at the young age of sixteen, putting herself through hell two years before she was allowed to. She trained and fought extensively in the fight against the lambent, then she was demoted after disobeying orders of an Officer but thanks to this disobedience the battle was won.

However it was her rank or permanent discharge of the COG, she choose to bury her Sargent rank to continue to fight for freedom and for the people of Sera. Now at almost nineteen, she was a private first class and she only wanted to take back Sera. Jackson knew that Mika wouldn't hesitate to kill the Boomer, she wouldn't care if the Lieutenant's life depended on leaving the Boomer's life un-taken.

Hoffman gestures for everyone to approach the giant table with hundreds of documents and other important strategy plans, The Colonel points at a holographic map of Anvil Gate where on it were multiple giant red blotches are located around the fort:

Hoffman: This is the intelligence we have thanks to Specialist McKenzie. -he spins the hologram till he points at the front of the fort-... the grubs plan to bring ten tons worth of foot soldiers and about twenty more worth of Siege-Beasts to our front door. they're not going to quit till they raze this fort to the hallow earth it sits on. -he points around the fort: Northeast, Southwest and straight north-... If the Intel stolen by McKenzie is accurate, we are to expect the blunt of the attack in these areas, my guess is that these are blind spots in our defenses. to protect them, gears will have to defend from the outside.

SSG Adams: However there is a plan to destroy the attack before it happens... "Cut the head of the snake and the body dies" case scenario here sir. -eyeing Jackson across the room-

Hoffman: -he follows Adams' gaze till he sees Jackson leaning against the nearest door of the war room, clearly listening in to the plans-... Jackson been planning behind my back again?... -he stands straight and narrows his eyes towards him before sighing-... Okay then, I'll bite... what are you planning now?

Jackson grinned before walking towards the table, retrieving a small data disc and inserting into the computer attached to the table. he sweeps the documents away and opens up a holographic render of General Skorge with information boxes and other things:

Jackson: General or High Priest Skorge, presumed dead after Marcus Fenix destroyed it's Hydra mount... -he starts, pointing at the hologram with Skorge's face on it-... we have dozens of reports that confirm not only that he's alive but he's leading the locusts alongside General RAAM and this... Boomer... -he pulls out two photographs, one of RAAM (he was next to a Reaver in the picture) and the other picture was Skjall, surrounded with Elite Maulers and a few elite locusts- ... We, McKenzie and myself, have hypothesized that Skorge controls the Savage Locust that have returned to the horde and because of this the attack will be composed mostly of Savage locusts... -he gestures to Jinx-

McKenzie: ...Skorge takes the same route, same escorts, same travel time and same method of travel, every day... very predictable but works in our favor. We are suggesting in assassinating General Skorge today.

Hoffman: Today?!... how in the blue hell are you planning to do it today?!

McKenzie: I'm getting to that Colonel... -he types something on the holographic map and then moves the map to north, 5.5 miles away from Anvil Gate; the holographic map shows a long stretch of short mountains and underneath was blinking road-... I went scouting up north through no man's land and found an abandoned locust mining camp here. -he pointed at a small area in front of the ridge directly in front of the Fort-... in that camp was a narrow tunnel that lead to the other side of the mountain ridge, at the other side I discovered a listening post over looking a large highway dug by the grubs.

He stood straight and expanded the hologram a few inches, marking a big spot on the center mountain that looked flat and then continues:

McKenzie: I infiltrated the listening post via the tunnel, that's hidden behind rubble I may add, then I found that the grubs here are elites and palace guards who rotated guard positions every twenty minutes... -he paced around the table-... they defend a large radio tower with a big satellite dish on its side aiming towards the deadlines, I presume towards the General's ears. before I left I saw that the entire listening post would go towards the Eastern wall to watch a large convoy, which General Skorge is leading.

SSG Adams: How do we know that he's going to be today here? -the staff sergeant asked-

McKenzie: He shows up at the same hour in this road every day, either because he fears no attacks or his confident enough were he's gotten complacent. -he responds-... at 1500 hours he's essentially parallel to the Listening Post and by 1600 he's gone, most likely deeper into the mountain range.

Hoffman: Do you know what awaits us upon the initial engagement Son? -he asked as he looked at Jinx and Jackson's plans, handed to him by Jackson-

McKenzie: Yes sir, we're expecting Savage and elite locusts, between two dozen and maybe four Therons, a couple Boomers and one siege-beast if we're unlucky. -he quickly adds-... Skorge rides in the center of the convoy riding on top of smaller than average Brumak, my guess is that it's a youngling. the Brumak has less armor and doesn't have the Canon on top but the machine guns are replaced by cluster rocket launchers. I can snipe him off his mount and we can destroy the convoy with a very well timed attack with boomshots and mortar fire.

Hoffman: Are you certain that you can lead this operation and successfully kill this sunnababitch? -he asked leaning in a bit locking eyes with Jinx-

McKenzie: Well sir Jackson is goi-

Hoffman: I had quite enough of Jackson leading operations, even if he's been successful before he does use risky and luck dependant tactics... -he looks at Jackson who has been silent but has been listening in the entire time-... this seems like too well though out to be dropped on his hands... so I'll ask again, are you certain that Skorge will die thanks to your leadership? -everyone looked at Jinx wanting to know his response-

McKenzie glances around the room seeing everyone awaiting his answer but he focuses on his Best Friend, his battle-buddy and lock eyes with him. Jackson smirks and silently nods before gesturing at Hoffman, McKenzie grins before looking at the Colonel:

McKenzie: If he doesn't, I'll personally hunt him down like monster he is. -he calmly says-

Hoffman: If that response would have come out from any other gear aside from you or Fenix, I would have laughed but I trust your word... -he stands up and looks at him with that could face he's known for-... seems you have a Grub big fish to hunt... everyone you're dismissed, McKenzie you have green light to get your team together but before you go I want to have a word with you in private.

Everyone quickly started moving out felicitating Jinx as they left, after everyone was gone he moved towards the Colonel who finished reading the plans:

Hoffman: I'm going to be quick about this because there's no time for formalities... I'm promoting you to captain, the rank that was denied to you by Prescott... -he look at him intensely with a grin-... don't disappoint the people here, the COG or me, understood Captain?

McKenzie: In all honesty have I ever disappointed you or anyone? -he said seriously-

Hoffman: Fair Enough, you're dismissed.

McKenzie now a Captain how he's meant to be went outside to gather his team and put an end to General Skorge's life today.

MEANWHILE IN THE LAB-

Jackson had gone to the lab while McKenzie conversed with Hoffman about the assassination or whatever the hell it was, he didn't discard the possibility of the Colonel promoting McKenzie, it could be Sargent or he could have returned Jinx back to the Officer ranks. At any case Jackson was pleased that McKenzie was given control of the operation, he was the guy who knew this territory like the back of his hand.

Jackson was now checking out the locust bodies that the medics had brought in, seeing three here all ready to be inspected. without much effort Jackson saw more of the yellow crystals around the bodies, mostly across the neck, torso and arms.

One of the drones was a Savage, seems like it was old but still strong enough to fight, he had largest quantity of crystals; there's patches of stuff growing on the right side of the chest, crawling up his shoulder and down to his right wrist. then there's other spots like the right thigh and lower torso. Jackson checked the Drone's eyes and saw that the right eye was almost entirely yellow with tiny crystals growing around the eye, the eye looks like if he had some agressive type of myopia.

He moved down and saw that around his neck the crystals had swollen the muscle tissue and damaged it extensively, in fact the muscle seemed softer than regular locust muscles. he pulled out a surgical scalper and opened up the muscle, upon doing so pus and dark infected looking blood spurted out with bits of flesh. he grimaced and pulled off his gloves then proceeded to pick up a tape recorder:

Jackson: Medical log 1, this is Sargent Elias Jackson the second, date will be written on side of the tape because honestly I've lost track... -chuckle-... earlier today I observed strange crystals growing on the side of a dead locust drone and wanted to see what was this all about; I started inspection at 0722 hours, discovered that these crystals could be some virus or deadly pathogen affecting the Locust, this hypothesis came about after opening a muscle mass that was bloated and covered in these yellow crystals. inside the muscle was a lot of pus, gunk and seemingly stagnated blood along with putrid pieces of muscle tissue. I'll proceed with the other bodies after this log is completed and I'll update the information accordingly. SGT Jackson signing off. -he stops the recording and places it down on a table before putting on latex gloves and heading back to the drone he opened initially-

As he used some pliers to pull the muscle apart to inspect it closer, in his head he feels like this locust is suffering from Rhabdomyolysis and Polymyositis, two very serious diseases that could lead to death if untreated. the smell coming from the muscle was dreadful, it was almost as bad as the stench that releases from a Seeder. he stumbled upon a very rigid and dark looking patch of flesh surrounding a healthy chunk of muscle that looked untouched by the sickness.

The door to the lab opened, Jackson was hard at work poking and prodding around the corpse when whoever had entered spoke in a familiar voice:

McKenzie: It's been a while since you've been here but I was expecting you to be treating the wounded not digging for gold inside a dead Locust. -he giggled in a low volume before seeing that Jackson was focused, meaning something interesting-... wha'chu found Jackson?

Jackson: This drone was suffering internal necrosis, some agressive Rhabdomyolysis and among other things all around the right side of his body. -he points and shows the cuts around the side of the torso and leg as well as the arm; the table was drenched in dark blood and the room was starting to smell of rot-

McKenzie: Bro you know I don't understand medical lingo, English please... -he put his helmet after smelling the air, he was thankful he had a filter in it-

Jackson: This motherfucker was rotting from the inside out, he must of have been fighting through a ungodly amount of pain... put on some bio-hazard gear and come 're. -he said to McKenzie-

After a few minutes McKenzie put on a hazmat suit over his uniform and approached Jackson:

Jackson: -he opened the big opening on the drone's right arm with some pliers and used a small pocket flashlight to shine the findings to Jinx-... see?... the muscle was rotting away from the bone and infecting the blood with shit, that would eventually lead to death. -he opened the wound a bit more and used a scalper to point at a patch of untouched flesh that had a slight glow to it-... see that?... necrosis all around that perfectly intact muscle.

McKenzie: What does it mean?

Jackson: It means that this locust was in no way shape or form capable to fight, yet he pushed through the pain and fought. -he grabs one of the loose crystals and shows it to McKenzie-... this crystals is fuckin' hard as shit, tried scratching it with a scalper and it dull the damn thing, I'll have to test it again a diamond cutter later.

McKenzie: You thing this is a contagious disease? -he stepped back from a blood spurt from the corpse and splattered against Jackson's hazmat suit, it was chunky and looked like dark chilli with too much oil-

Jackson: Oh fuck... -he winces at the warm body fluid hit his suit-... and yes I do, these crystals are sprouting on Locusts and I'm certain that it's related to this pathogen.

McKenzie: Do you think this has something to do with the super weapon that Marcus Fenix used against the Lambent? -he suddenly asked-

Jackson: Could be, this disease is tied to their cells, the blood and their very DNA... at least I think, I'll have to microscope a sample of blood later but... Lambent withered away and turned to a practically indestructible stone, seeing these crystals exhibit same toughness doesn't seem like it's any different. -he looks at the corpse, then goes to the decontamination area-

Jackson goed into the corridor surrounded with sprinklers, McKenzie next to him as it activates. After the decontamination procedure is done, they place the hazmat protection on their respective stand and then leave the lab/morgue. As they leave towards their barracks McKenzie speaks to Jackson:

McKenzie: Got promoted to Captain, like I was supposed to when my armor was Onyx. -he said nonchalantly, quickly earning a happy look by Jackson-

Jackson: Congratulations Bro, you deserve it... even if we're not much of a military anymore.

McKenzie: Yeah but when we take back Sera, We're going to be the first two to start bringing in new recruits into the COG. -he jokingly says as he puts on his helmet, the lights on it flickering on after he gives it a smack on the left temple area-

Jackson: Sure... you bring them in and I'll fuck them up for about thirty weeks and give them a piece of paper that says "Congrats, you're a Gear"... -he responds in a equally joking manner-

Jinx looks towards the wall where the number graffiti was sprayed seeing it perfectly clean, he swore he remembers seeing a big grafitti there but before he can dwell on it too much, Jackson pats him in the back:

Jackson: Hey how much with got left till Skorge is heading through? -he asked-

McKenzie: A few hours, we should be able to stock up in ammo, wipe out the listening post and attack.

Jackson: ...And Scalp that motherfucker. -they had a strong manly handshake before heading out to load up for their mission-

ELSEWHERE, QUEEN'S LANDING-

Adam Fenix was just finishing his autopsy on a Locust Drone that was beaten to death by a Savage drone, but the reason for the autopsy was the crystals that sprouted around his body; he peeled off the thick skin to reveal the muscle tissue, which was was suffering from some aggressive post-mortem Necrosis unlike decomposition.

Adam wore as much protection he could to study the disease that was affecting the locust, now he was sure that it doesn't affect humans. The crystals are a side effect of the Imulsion being killed by the countermeasure back in Azura, this disease was also part of these side effects; Since he discovered it he had noticed that nearly 50% of the locust horde was affected while the other half didn't suffer from it's symptoms.

Every locust he tested possessed the disease but it's dormant in half the locust he tested while the other half was suffering from symptoms like necrosis, extensive inflammation of the muscles where the crystals sprout, blood clots and other symptoms. Boomers that were having the symptoms were loosing large amounts of body fat but their symptoms were very subtle or slow.

The professor was writing his findings down in a new notebook, that a drone had found after he had told Myrrah that his notebook was full; Adam doesn't know if it was because the drone saw it fitting or just was the first thing he grabbed but the hard cover ten by ten book was blood red, nevertheless Adam didn't mind:

"-The Disease that the locust have been suffering from is connected to the imulsion countermeasure, I'm sure of it but it's affecting half of the locust, including their mounts and beasts. Some continue their lives like normal while others are developing the same yellow crystals that first began on Myrrah, aside from the crystals there's changes that are affecting some of the locusts I've seen in my room for medical check ups." -he writes down as he looks towards the main courtyard seeing the convoy of general Skorge starting to leave-

"Generally speaking, the locust are sick and possibly dying slowly to the countermeasure because of their connection with Imulsion. Queen Myrrah has been improving but just barely, blood tests indicate that her condition is stabilizing however it all depends on her blood pressure and her body temperature. The children, were exposed to sunlight today and the boys began crying immediately while the girl, Nanaria seemed to enjoy the brightness and heat, it could be her similarities with her mother..." -he stops writing when a pack of Therons enter and place a Savage Drone on one of the stone cots, prompting Adam to head towards the wounded drone-

The professor doesn't bother asking the Therons what happened knowing that they wouldn't answer; he opens the chest armor up and sees that the drone has a glowing orange fluid running out it's six bullet wounds on the right pectoral muscle. he knows that the drone won't survive his wounds, so Adam goes to take a sample of the blood with a small vial.

The Drone twitches and spasms on the cot as Adam takes a sample and quickly injects the locust with a sedative, numbing the pain and letting the drone die in his drug induced slumber. he took the vial to the old but still functional cooler, crudely connected to a makeshift battery.

Adam then sits down (After making sure any of his patients aren't in need of him for now) on his desk, thinking to himself about the only thing that has any meaning to him: Marcus. Adam had tried to escape before, three different times actually, but he stopped them because he'd be captured if he attempted it. The first time was after he had heard that Marcus was free from Azura, he tried to leave at night but he was caught by his Theron Guards, thankfully he used the excuse that he needed to urinate in private.

The Second he nearly succeeded at leaving but he stopped and thought about the lives of the Twins and Nanaria, whom were presumably sick; Something in his conscious prevented him from abandoning and dooming Myrrah's children to such an early death. He even got concern and angry when Myrrah suggested that Adam could use the Children to help the Horde with the disease seeing as the Twins and Nanaira are 100% immune to it.

However it is a sign of how much Myrrah cares and values her people, willing to use her own flesh and blood for the rest of the Locust horde; Of course she didn't mean to snuff their lives but to use their blood to create a vaccine or a full cure for the disease, before it becomes worse. However Adam noticed that disease, which some of the Locust are dubbing "Blood-rot", is affecting Boomers and Myrrah differently than most of the locust.

Myrrah's "Blood-rot" is very slow but it's also increasing her white blood cell production, why is this relevant?, well because the disease is NOT targeted by the infected's immune system. Her skin has turn slightly tougher, her muscles had increased by about five percent and her body fat has lowered by six percent. This is very similar to Older and more matured Boomers, whom have and are experiencing loss of body fat and increase in muscle strength and durability.

"I am certain that the countermeasure affected the locust even if it wasn't at the moment, it's been starting to affect them now after being dormant since the deployment of the Imulsion countermeasure. The Locust did have a large amount of Lambent cells in them and if it wasn't for Myrrah damaging the device so extensively and possibly some miscalculation of frequencies and other things in my device, the locust wouldn't be here now" -he wrote down alongside side with scribbles of formulas and small yet complex equations to remember for later-

He looks out his window and sees General RAAM and General Skjall arguing about something in their native language, only being able to understand a few words like "Skorge", "War", "Anvil Gate" and "Queen"; he sees that RAAM is carrying little baby Nanaira in one single hand, she's so adorable as she plays with one of her father's claws cooing as she tries wrapping her little hands around the his finger. she's sitting on his palm while his claws lock her in place.

"The Kids, Myrrah's children are immune to the disease, I'll have to confirm it but seeing as they've been more active as of late and show no signs of the sickness. The Queen has already given me the go to take as little blood as possible from the children to see if a vaccine can be created. However I refuse to sacrifice their lives for the horde, doesn't matter if they're locusts I won't harm those babies... so help me god" -he wrote before closing his journal and hearing his Theron escort approaching him, meaning he's been summoned by a General or Queen Myrrah-

He follows a Theron Guard that he has nicknamed "Thorn" because of the thorns that his battle damaged armor has, behind him was "Smiles" called like that because the left side of his jaw and mouth is damaged to the extent where his fangs are exposed in a gruesome fashion. The two therons are clearly from RAAM's elite therons but aren't wearing their black robes, the therons were ocassionally his escorts whenever the normal escorts, a pair of Palace Guards, weren't available.

he'd preferred the Palace Guards because he was used to them but these two Therons did not like Adam one bit, he could see it in the way the gestured and respond to his words. They shared RAAM's hate and his view on humans, they had the scars to prove it too; Eventually these two brought Adam to General RAAM and General Skjall, both standing near a large table with a few weapons leaning on it, battle plans and a gutted COG Gear helmet used to listen in to the transmissions:

RAAM: You... -he gestures at his Therons to leave-... You will start creating weapons for the horde to strengthen our forces and you would also in ocassion will assist General Skjall in his projects, is that clear human?

Adam: What about the Queen's orders to be a doctor to whomever is wounded? -he asked quickly to attempt to get out of the weapon making- those were the Queen's orders.

Skjall: High General RAAM and myself are relieving you from your medical duties so you work with these new duties. -he said to Adam as RAAM plays with Nanaira, making her coo very adorable and looking pleased-... Who else to get us weapons than the maker of the Hammer of Dawn.

Adam: I refuse, I will not create weapons so you can wipe out my species. -he says serious and without hesitation-

RAAM stared directly at his face, gently placing Nanaira in the care of a Palace Guard whom came by Skjall's signal; The High General grabbed the elderly scientist by the neck, lifting him up very little ease and staring directly into Adam's eyes with fury. He retrieved his Knife from his waist holster, the same weapon used to kill so many gears:

RAAM: You will, ADAM FENIX, because if you don't then you're of no use to us. -he spat at Adam, his voice loud and frightening, so much so it spooked a few drones around them-... You'll die like the rest of your species. -he says as he is about to kill him-

Adam: Go ahead... -he spat back-... Marcus is free and... -cough-...you'll be... -he coughed loudly-... doing me a... favor... -he choked, almost being unable to breathe-

Before RAAM could kill Adam, Nanaira began crying loudly and thrashing in the Palace Guard's grip risking falling on to the ground. The Palace Guard tried to hold her tight but her erratic thrashing prevented him from holding her.

RAAM dropped Adam and approaches the Guard, who quickly hands the High General his daughter back; Adam gasps for air as RAAM carries Nanaira, calming her down, however the baby kept her teary eyes towards Adam and back to RAAM, unsure of who she want to look at.

The palace guard escorts that Adam was familiar with came and grabbed him, holding him in place as Skjall moved towards him:

Skjall: Take him back to his room! -he ordered just before dispersing the crowd that grew around the area-

As the locust dispersed, Adam was taken away to his room and locked inside by his escorts, to think and wait for what would happen now.

Skorge unbeknownst to him was heading straight into an ambush because of him complacency, that shall be his Demise.

TO BE CONTINUED...