I do not own Gears of War or any of its characters.
Speyer
Joseph narrowed his eyes as he glared at Jinn's face on the projector screen of her remote-controlled DeeBee. They were just outside Speyer, and had been walking for hours. Joseph's body was sore, his wounds were throbbing, his feet were sore, and he wanted to sleep. He wasn't in the mood to deal with Jinn.
"Now what?" JD asked sarcastically.
"More headaches," Joseph grumbled.
"You know, as much as I enjoy our chats, we're a little busy," JD quipped as they walked toward Jinn's bot.
"You said before I didn't know what was going on," Jinn reminded JD. "So, why don't you educate me?"
"Look who finally figured out that six people aren't taking on the entire COG army just for the hell of it," Del scoffed.
"Took her long enough," Kait growled.
"Jinn, get the fuck out of our way," Joseph growled. "I'm not in the mood to deal with your bullshit!"
"Here's what I propose," Jinn offered. "We all go back to New Ephyra and you tell me exactly what's out here."
"You think we're going to let you arrest us?" Joseph scoffed.
"You've seen them, haven't you?" JD asked, stepping forward.
"This isn't an intelligence summit, Lieutenant!" Jinn snapped.
"Yeah, that's obvious," JD said.
"How can it be, you're here," Lizzie snorted.
"What's obvious is that my efforts to keep our society united is the only chance we have against whatever's out here!" Jinn snapped.
"You actually believe the bullshit that comes out of you mouth, don't you?" JD scoffed, walking forward to get in Jinn's face. "Must be comforting, since no one else does."
"Lieutenant-" Jinn began, only for JD to grab the bot by the shoulders.
"I'm not your fucking lieutenant!" JD shouted.
Just then, a short barrage of Pouncer spines slammed into the DeeBee from behind, impaling it all the way through but stopping before exiting its body, allowing JD to step back and avoid injury. The DeeBee sparked and jerked, folding forward at the waist. Joseph frowned, narrowing his uncovered eye as he stared at a thin, red vapor rising from the DeeBee. Then, the DeeBee grabbed JD by the throat as the projector screen began to turn red from the spine impaled through it and spreading outward. All of the lights on the DeeBee's armor glowed red, giving the bot a bloody hue.
"James!" Marcus shouted, only to be drowned out as the others all opened fire on the Pouncers.
James stabbed the DeeBee in the torso several times, ruining it and making it collapse, then grabbed his Lancer, instantly turning to aid the others against the Pouncers. Joseph had to note, as the first of two exploded, that they'd gotten good at killing them. The first exploded within seconds, and when the second leapt at Joseph, Lizzie tackled him out of the way before the Pouncer crashed down and rolled to a stop in front of JD, who willingly took a goo shower in exchange for killing it with his chainsaw bayonet. Within a couple of minutes, they'd finished both of the Pouncers.
"What the hell happened to Jinn?" Del asked.
"Just...I dunno," JD shook his head. "We'll sort it out later. We need to get to that radio tower."
They headed toward Speyer, only for gunshots to echo from inside the town. JD sawed through a chain holding a gate shut, but as they all rushed into the square on the other side, they found DeeBees in the middle of a small war with the Swarm.
"What is this?" JD asked.
"Jeez, never thought I'd be rooting for a bunch of DeeBees," Kait mused.
"Let's help them," Joseph decided, pulling his Longshot off of his back. "Maybe they'll decide we're friends if we do."
The others nodded, and together they all tore into the Swarm. They started with the Drones, then moved down to the Juvies. Just as they were almost finished with the Juvies, who were almost finished with the DeeBees, a Guardian arrived along with more DeeBees, Del shouting a warning, just in case. On the Swarm side, however, a Scion arrived with Drone reinforcements, the Scion holding a Mulcher minigun. They once again turned on the Drones, Joseph focusing on the Scion, killing him within three shots before helping the others. About halfway through the Swarm, however, the DeeBees turned on them, only for all but the Guardian to die in moments, being much more easy to take down than the Drones. Finally, only the Guardian was left, and Joseph put his Longshot away and took off at a sprint. The Guardian let out a loud, deep, sour note as it turned, its Trishot opening fire at him, only for Joseph to dive into cover unharmed. A moment later, when the Guardian stopped shooting for its gun to cool, Joseph popped up, the Scion's fallen Mulcher already spinning and immediately ripped into the Guardian's shield, destroying both shield and guardian within ten seconds.
"That's all of them, for now," JD said.
"Then let's get to that radio tower," Marcus said as he and JD pushed a large, blue set of double-doors open and allowed them all to pass through Joseph leaving the Mulcher behind.
"Everyone alright?" Kait asked. "Mostly you two."
"I'm fine," Lizzie assured her.
"I'm sore," Joseph answered. "Fine otherwise."
Kait nodded, all of them continuing toward the radio tower on the far side of the city.
"So, what did happen to Jinn's bot?" Del asked.
"I think the Pouncer's quills somehow hacked into it," Lizzie said.
"How would that work?" JD asked.
"A bioelectric field, maybe?" Kait offered.
"Or some kind of voltage-gated ion channel," Del suggested.
"Oh," JD nodded, clearly not understanding. "Yeah. That makes sense."
"It does?" Marcus asked as they reached the top of a stairway and JD sawed through several strings of snotty goo, Joseph grinning inside of his mask as someone other than him got coated in the shit.
They headed through the building before dropping through a hole in the floor, then walking out through one in the wall to a square heading for a factory. As soon as they arrived, Swarm nests appeared in the road, Lizzie and Kai both instantly hurling a grenade at the first one, blasting it and the Swarm inside of it into paste before they all took cover. They all opened fire carefully, taking down the drones as quickly as they could. A Scion appeared, beginning to empower the other Drones, only for Lizzie to fire a Dropshot at him, the explosive ordinance's drill burrowing into the Scion's head before exploding, killing it. The other Drones all roared, rushing, only for the six of them to lean out of cover, all opening fire at once and slaughtering them before any of them could reach cover. Another nest opened on the far side of the square, and they all charged, spraying the emerging Swarm before any could fire back, and once they were close enough, Marcus tossed a grenade onto the nest, blasting it apart. A Scion stomped out of a building to Joseph's right, but before it could open fire with its Mulcher, Joseph all but hurled himself into it. His rifle knocked the Mulcher aside, and the Scion caught him by the throat, only for Joseph to grab a knife, driving it into the Scion's eye and into his brain. The Scion collapsed instantly, and Joseph ripped his knife back out, wiping it off on the Scion's pants before putting it away and picking up the Mulcher.
"Okay, we're clear," JD sighed.
"Let's just get in there before any more show up," Marcus growled.
"Agreed," Joseph nodded.
JD and Kait lifted the factory's shutter door, and the others all ducked under it, the two of them letting it drop a moment later.
"Well, look at that," Del commented. "Old Centaur factory."
Arranged into a line along a trench on the far side of the factory floor were several large, uncomfortable-looking transports, all of them looking like they lacked personal space, had tires almost as big as their bodies, and were covered in fleshy roots, many of which had pods on the Centaurs.
"So you used to ride in these heaps, huh?" JD asked.
"They weren't so bad," Marcus shrugged. "A little cramped. Broke down all the time."
"Hm," Del mused. "That sounds like they were pretty bad."
Marcus snorted. "Yeah, maybe. But they got the job done."
They searched the factory for an exit, but there was nothing. All of the doors were blocked by roots and pods, so they headed upstairs instead. At the top, they were greeted by more Drones and a single Scion, but they mopped them up quickly. Joseph traded his now empty Mulcher for the Scion's Buzzkill. In the next hallway, they stopped as they found a pile of ammo crates.
"Better stock up on ammo while we can," Marcus advised.
"Oh, you think we'll need it?" Del asked sarcastically, already generating fresh magazines for their Lancers, the others doing the same.
"Yeah, Del," Marcus growled. "Unless your Lancer runs on smartass."
"Seems to be working so far," Del shrugged, all of them finishing resupplying their ammo before heading for the door further along that should lead them out of the factory.
Up ahead, there was a short hill before the courtyard around the radio tower. Marcus announced their imminent arrival at the tower, only for JD to voice his pessimistic opinion about getting to it without a headache. Sure enough, as they reached the top of the hill, several nests opened and a turret began to fire at them. They all dove into cover, firing when they could relatively safely. Kait tossed a grenade into the first nest, blasting it, and Joseph dove into it just before the turret managed to collapse his cover. He rolled to the edge of the nest, taking cover there, then waited. Finally, the turret's aim swung away, and Joseph stood with his Longshot, sending a bullet into the turret's operator, killing it. They all pushed forward as quickly as they could, Joseph focusing largely on further targets and snipers while the others mowed down closer targets. Juvies swarmed toward them, and Joseph swapped his Longshot for his Lancer again, helping the others slaughter them, but just as they finished, a Drone tackled Joseph to the ground. It roared, swinging a Lancer down at him, its chainsaw bayonet roaring, only for it to instantly begin to shriek and spark as it clashed against Joseph's own. The Drone hurled its body weight onto its rifle, and Joseph shouted in effort, struggling to hold it back. Then, finally, Lizzie put her Gnasher to the Drone's head, blasting it off of Joseph.
Joseph sighed, pushing himself up and sitting back against the cover he'd been tackled behind. The turret was firing again, but Joseph and Lizzie both took a moment to catch their breath before rejoining the battle, Joseph once again taking out the turret gunner first. Finally, after a few more minutes, they'd reached the tower and Marcus walked inside to call for help while the others all stood outside to keep watch. And as they watched, they saw Swarm gathering for an assault, though none emerged yet. Then, the doors behind them burst open and they all spun, only to stop as they saw Marcus dragging out a Fabricator out to them.
"Shit, you scared the crap out of me!" Kait snapped at him.
"Uh, sorry," Marcus said, dropping the Fabricator. "Back up's on its way."
"How long before he gets here?" JD asked.
"Long enough that we'll need this," Marcus grunted, turning the Fabricator on.
Joseph immediately formed an automated turret, lugging it off to one of the two sets of stairs, JD forming another and taking it to the other set of stairs. Joseph returned to the machine, forming a third, and carried it to the set of stairs he'd gone to first, where to turrets could effectively cover the stairs without assistance, then set the Fabricator to recharge.
"JD, take the turret," Joseph instructed. "Del, you're on the right with the two turrets there. You'll be in charge of keeping them functioning."
Both nodded.
"Marcus, Kait, you two are on the left with me," Joseph said. "You're in charge of keeping me alive. Lizzie, stay on the Fabricator. We'll need more turrets."
The rest of them nodded just as the building ahead of them in the center of the courtyard exploded, Drones and Juvies swarming out of the burning building, along with a Scion bearing a Mulcher. They all scrambled to their positions just before the square dissolved into chaos. As Joseph had anticipated, the right side staircase was kept blocked off by the two turrets, Kait only firing once in a while, mostly targeting further targets to help JD, who was using the turret to try and stem the tide of Drones from the burning building and targeting the Scion first and foremost. On the left side, the other three of them were shooting much more frequently than Kait, but with the three of them combined with the turret, they were also able to bottleneck the stairway. For a few minutes, it was fine. Then, just as they finished off the Drones, a pair of Pouncers arrived. Everyone moved to the front with JD to try and kill them as fast as possible, but within seconds, both of them had leapt over the wall onto the radio tower's balcony directly, bypassing the turrets as one tackled JD and the other tackled Joseph. JD shouted in effort as he struggled to hold the pouncer on him back, but Joseph was hit harder and bounced off his back, the Pouncer falling off, landing on the Fabricator instead and smashing Lizzie aside with its tail. Joseph spun himself on the ground, spraying it for a second before it pounced on him again. He jerked his head to the side, allowing it to bite the ground just before he drove a knife into its gut.
"Get the fuck off!" he shouted, stabbing it over and over.
Finally, Lizzie tackled it off of him, immediately driving her Gnasher into its stomach hard enough to impale it before firing three shots. A moment later, the Pouncer burst apart, coating them both before JD's also exploded as Kait and Marcus both blasted it with their Gnashers. Joseph groaned, taking off his helmet and shaking the Pouncer goo out of it, wiping it off of his face as Lizzie wiped her helmet's face off.
"Are you okay?" Lizzie asked.
"Yeah," Joseph nodded. "Thanks."
Joseph pulled his helmet back on, getting another machine gun from the Fabricator and putting it on the left at the foot of the stairs as Lizzie got another, putting it at the bottom of the other set of stairs. JD reloaded the first set of machine guns, then returned to the turret. A few seconds of tense silence later, a door off to the left burst open, Drones swarming out of it and being greeted by a hail of bullets. Within moments, the small group had been killed, including its Scion, only for two more Scions to explode through a pair of gates on the right side, followed by Drones. They all turned, opening fire again, and once again killed the Scions within seconds. Probably the only good thing Joseph could say was that they'd gotten good at fighting Swarm. The Drones were dead within another two minutes. A trio of Hunters sprinted onto a walkway along the top, but between five Lancers and the turret, they all died before any of them could fire their Torque Bows. But that was where their luck ended.
A pair of Snatchers entered, one from either side. JD swore harshly as he dove away from a turret just before a Snatcher's tail fired, smashing it. Joseph grit his teeth, leaning out of cover and opening fire on one Snatcher along with Lizzie and Marcus while JD, Del, and Kait focused on the other. The Snatchers ignored their bullets, as well as those of the turrets, but as they reached the automated turrets at the bottom of the stairs, they smashed them at almost the same time. The Snatcher Joseph, Lizzie, and Marcus were targeting fired another spike, this one grazing Joseph's shoulder guard as he ducked back into cover. He paused, gritting his teeth, and braced himself for pain before leaning back out, opening fire again. Lizzie hurled a grenade, but the Snatcher ignored it, instead leaping forward, over the stairs. It landed on one of the turrets at the top there, crushing it, then fired a spike into the other, smashing it.
"Bail!" Joseph shouted.
Everyone sprinted toward the edge of the wall, leaping over it, only for a pair of spikes to tear up across Joseph's back, ripping his armor apart across the back and tearing gouges up his back. He crashed to the ground, bouncing along as his ruined armor broke apart and fell off. Lizzie shrieked in fear, seeing the state he was in, but before anyone could get to him, Kait tackled her into cover just before one of the Snatchers crashed down over Joseph. Its stomach opened, tentacles reaching out and wrapping around him, binding him and dragging him into its stomach. As the thick, glowing, orange goo that he usually got coated in from pods and Pouncers flooded the cavity, Joseph sealed his mouth, then forced one hand over, grabbing the knife on his left forearm, beginning to cut himself free. As he did, he looked up, spotting something large, made of flesh, and pulsating above him. As soon as he was loose enough, he lunged, dragging himself along the inside of its stomach, and drove his knife into the Snatcher's heart, then slashed downward. Instantly, the Snatcher shrieked in pain before beginning to erupt, finally dropping him to the ground before exploding fully. He pushed himself up, blowing the goo back out of his nose and groaning, only for the other Snatcher to land over him. Before it could grab him, he rolled, shoving a grenade into its open stomach before slashing the only tentacle to catch his arm and rolled away, allowing the grenade to explode, killing the Snatcher. He looked around, seeing the others running toward him, all battered and bruised, but leaving a field of dead Juvies behind.
"Joseph!" Lizzie gasped, throwing her arms around him.
"I'm alright," Joseph said. "JD, Del, replace the turrets."
Both nodded, running for the Fabricator as Joseph quickly gathered his chestplate and the knives on the back of his armor before joining the others inside of their defenses. Lizzie hastily used Joseph's ruined shirt to bandage his wounds before using duct tape to attach his chestplate to him again. A second later, a door on the far right side burst open and the battle had resumed. The Swarm seemed to be running low this time, because only a handful of Drones and a single Scion attacked from each side, all being cleaned up in seconds. But then, just as the last fell, the massive, stone arches that had been a set of gates before the fight suddenly exploded. All spun toward it just as a handful of the same organic rockets fired by a Carrier burst out of the smoke, flashing across the distance at them. They all began to raise their rifles, but there wasn't enough time. And so, a second after being fired, three of them exploded against Joseph, two in the chest and one in the helmet.
Joseph shrieked in agony as he crashed to the ground, ripping his helmet off and clutching at his face over his eye as it smoked. Lizzie sprinted to him instantly, ripping his hands away, only to gasp. Then, she apologized before ripping the duct tape from his face. The burning, acidic goo inside of the projectiles had already eaten through the duct tape, but had fortunately done little beyond blistering his eyelid. At least on the outside. As Joseph forced his eye open, seeming to want to know if it was damaged, Lizzie yelped, staring at the entirely yellow-green appearance of his eye where the fluid had made it under his eyelid and burned his eye. Lizzie immediately rolled him to the side, grabbing her water canteen and pouring it into his eye, both completely ignoring the battle going on as Joseph shrieked in agony as Lizzie held his eyelid open and flushed his eye. After a few seconds, she tossed the empty water canteen aside and pulled out a tube of sterile saline she kept on her incase she got an eyeful of oil or gas. She sprayed it into his eye, then ripped a piece of her sweatshirt off, pressing it to his eye and taping it there before quickly lifting him and dragging him into the radio tower. She set him against the control panel and knelt in front of him.
"Joseph!" Lizzie pleaded, voice shaking. "Say something! Talk to me!"
"Tell me...I'm still pretty," Joseph groaned through gritted teeth.
Lizzie let out a laughing sob, mashing her lips to his. "Don't worry, that's what light switches are for."
Joseph laughed, only for it to turn into a groan. "Go...help the others. I'll be alright."
Lizzie nodded, pulling her helmet back on before hurrying back out to help the others. After a few minutes of the Carrier shrieking and roaring and the others all firing near-constantly, everything went silent. Joseph stared at the door in silence, raising his Boltok pistol. Finally, the door opened and Lizzie walked in, Joseph sighing and lowering his pistol, reattaching it to its magnet holster.
"We got it," Lizzie said. "Come on. We're a couple blocks from the rendezvous point."
Joseph sighed as he allowed Lizzie to haul him to his feet. "Of course we are."
They made their way to the others, Lizzie keeping Joseph's left arm over her shoulders as they headed for the others. The others all stared at him in silence. He was beaten, bloodied, burned, and hobbling, Lizzie half-carrying him, but as they reached the others, Joseph raised his Boltok again, nodding.
"I think we'll follow you, this time," Joseph said.
"Yeah, that's a good idea," Marcus nodded.
They all headed for the pillar of green smoke marking the rendezvous location, but with the state Joseph was in, conversation was nonexistent this time.
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