I do not own Gears of War or any of its characters.
Rescue
"Activity's been increasing for the last few weeks," JD said as he and Fahz rode in a Raven together, providing escort for the convoy, at the head of which was Lizzie with Joseph riding shotgun as always. "There's a small attack every day, but intel suggests that a much larger force is on its way to wipe this village out."
JD had changed a lot in the last four months since Settlement Two. He had shaved his head bald, for one thing, except for his now bushy beard, a scar decorated his face down the right side and over his eye socket, though fortunately had missed his actual eye, and his right arm was still a bright, angry red scar tissue and caused him pain from time to time, but was covered by a medical unit consisting of a pair of rings, one of which had an activation switch, and a sleeve of hexagons. When his arm flared up, he could activate the device and numb his arm in seconds, and eventually, when it finished healing, the device would be removed. Besides the physical issue, after being the direct cause of the dozens of civilian deaths caused by the Hammer of Dawn and of his own injuries, JD not functioned almost exclusively by the book, and had done so on the multiple missions Jinn had sent him on with Fahz, who JD now got along with well.
"Should we assume it's not just coincidence that the same day Kait and Del go to try and recruit them, the Swarm decides to pull out all the stops in trying to wipe them off the map?" Joseph asked.
"Probably, not a coincidence, no," JD agreed. "Alright, once we set down, we'll warn them that there's probably an attack coming and that we're here to help, no DeeBees involved.
"And since there are only four of us, they'll probably shoot us on sight," Joseph reasoned, pulling his helmet on. "Assuming they do decide to let us in, will four people really make that much of a difference? Especially since they'll probably try to take our weapons."
"We brought a few Fabricator Mags as bargaining chips, and to help with the battle," JD said. "Eight for Lancers, two Boltoks, two Snubs, five Gnashers, two Longshots, and three Hammerbursts."
Joseph nodded approvingly as Lizzie pulled on her helmet as well. "We should be about there, right?"
"Yeah," JD nodded. "Everyone be ready. The Swarm may decide to attack while the convoy's here."
Joseph looked toward the village, only for his gut to drop. The attach had already begun. Swarm were flooding toward the village, and gunfire, screams, and explosions were going off inside of it already, smoke rising from fires.
"Guess again," Joseph said. "Looks like we're late for the party."
"Agreed," JD said. "Get those trucks in a defensive formation!"
Lizzie and the other drivers complied, forming a semi-circle around the main gate, then all bailed out inward before using the trucks as cover to fight back the Swarm. Fortunately, there was very little cover outside the village, so the Swarm were relying on sheer numbers to overpower them, whereas Joseph and the others could handle it with less numbers by using the trucks as cover.
"Corporal Diaz, Lieutenant Walker!" Fahz radioed to Kait and Del. "What a lovely day we're not having! The evac convoy's here, but it's getting hammered outside the main gate!"
"We're on our way!" Kait reported.
Joseph glanced back at the gate, just as a pair of Gears tried to push it open, only to find it either locked or jammed. He turned back to the front, refocusing on his fire as the Raven swooped low, allowing JD to bail out and rappel to the ground with Fahz, both landing just inside the protection of the trucks. Then, once they were on the ground and unhooked from the rappels, they grabbed their Lancers and opened fire on the Swarm with the rest of the convoy's escort. Of the four, JD had one of Marcus's modded Lancers, Fahz had one of the newer grenade launcher variants of the Mark III, Lizzie had the standard Mark III Lancer, and Joseph had his own personal Lancer. JD was also sporting a Gnasher and a Talon Autopistol, Fahz and Joseph both had a Boltok pistol, Fahz had a Markza Marksman Rifle, Joseph had a Longshot, and Lizzie had a Snub pistol and a Gnasher like JD.
"Why are we hiding behind your truck?" JD asked Lizzie. "I thought it was your baby."
"Because I care more about Joseph than my Minotaur," Lizzie said simply. "Close call, though."
"You can't fuck a Minotaur," Joseph reasoned.
"Ye of little faith," Lizzie snorted. "I could tape a dildo to it and it'd be about the same. Lazy, one-sided, only partially satisfying."
"Ouch," Joseph said.
"Alright, that's enough of that!" JD snapped. "I'm sorry I asked!"
"Are they seriously talking about this right now?" Fahz asked. "We're getting overrun!"
"Oh, Fahz," Joseph snorted. "It's adorable that you think this is being overrun. Settlement Two was being overrun. This is nothing!"
It was true. It was a chaotic mess due to the sheer volume of fire, but it was controlled chaos. With no cover, the Swarm were easy targets for Joseph and the others and couldn't get close. At least, not while it was almost all Drones, Scions, and Juvies. There were a handful of Pouncers, but Joseph and Lizzie had made sure they were prepared for them, and as soon as a Pouncer was in range, whether it landed on one of the few boulders was on the ground among the army, several Gears armed with Longshots targeted them in volleys, killing them within moments every time. However, after a few moments, the Swarm began to adapt. Instead of all rushing the main gate, they spread, rushing the village from every side. Joseph swore. That they couldn't defend against.
"Del, Kait, times up!" Joseph shouted. "The Swarm are starting to circle the village! We can keep the main gate clear, but if you don't get out here, there's nothing we can do!"
"Shit!" Del shouted. "A Snatcher got Kait!"
"Where's it heading?" JD asked instantly.
"Out of the village!" Del shouted over gunfire. "Leaving the gate turn left!"
"JD, Marcus, get Kait!" Joseph shouted. "Del, did they get inside?"
"Yeah!" Del shouted. "They're coming over the wall the opposite side the Snatcher's going!"
"Understood," Joseph said. "We need the main gate open! Once it is, we can help!"
"Hold on!" Del shouted, everyone waiting for nearly three Fabricator mags before Del spoke again. "I got it! Gate's open!"
Half of the Gears all instantly pushed through the gate with Fahz, finding themselves on a balcony overlooking a courtyard where the Outsiders were struggling to make a stand against an army of Drones flooding from somewhere further into the village. Fahz ordered them to open fire instantly, and the Gears followed his command, beginning to slaughter the Drones and the one visible Scion. As the number dropped, however, those still alive began to use cover, and Joseph led his Gears down a curved flight of stairs on their left into the courtyard. While he led a force to help clear the village, Joseph and Lizzie remained with the others to try and hold the main gate.
With only half the number of Gears, however, including only two of the Longshot team, they couldn't hold the Swarm back. Slowly, the Gears began to drop. One fell to a sniper before one of the Gears' snipers killed it, another fell to a Torque Bow bolt, another was hit by a Pouncer's quills before it died. Finally, Joseph could see inevitability coming in the form of a line of Scions bearing mulchers and a much, much larger Scion behind them. It wore a black helmet, a black cape and pants, had Locust Crystals coating the outside of its forearms and shoulders like armor, and carried a pair of long, metal rods with alternating rows of Locust Crystal spikes along the top half of them, the Locust Crystals all rotating, spinning faster the faster the Scion moved the maces.
"Lizzie!" Joseph shouted over the gunfire, pointing at the Scions. "We need to go!"
Lizzie grit her teeth, then shrieked several swears before nodding.
"Fall back!" Joseph roared to the other Gears.
They all turned instantly, sprinting into the village and away from the Swarm.
Fahz swore, running to cover Joseph and the others, Del and Oscar, who had survived the last village he was in being raided, apparently and now led this village, doing the same. Joseph and Lizzie both hurled grenades backward to buy themselves time, but despite all of their best efforts, only Joseph and Lizzie made it to cover alive before beginning to fire back along with the others.
"Are the trucks okay?" Fahz asked.
"For now!" Lizzie shouted.
"There are about to be a lot of Mulcher Scions coming through that gate!" Joseph warned the others, he and Lizzie alternating between the stairs and the balcony as they tried valiantly to bottleneck the main gate.
"How many is a lot?" Fahz asked.
"Ten or twelve!" Joseph shouted. "Please tell me you still have some grenades!"
"Only one!" Fahz shouted.
Just then, a Juvie turned, tackling a Drone and clawing out its throat, then leapt at another, only for that one to blast it with his Gnasher. Joseph, who was the only one to have seen this, shook his head, returning his focus to slaughtering Swarm, only to stop and watch as a Drone suddenly clutched at its head, roared in pain, and then turned its Hammerburst on a pair of Drones to its right, then a Scion with a Dropshot. A second after it finished with the Scion, however, it slumped forward, then straightened, roaring and turning on Joseph and the others again, only for several other Drones to shoot it. Joseph frowned. Something was controlling them. He swore as the gate exploded and the Scions began to stomp through, except, just as they did, a Mulcher began to roar and its bullets began to rip through the Scions from behind, rapidly slaughtering them all. Another Scion walked into view, then slumped forward, only for Joseph to instantly put a Longshot bullet through its head, killing it before whatever was controlling it could lose its grip.
"They're falling back!" Fahz shouted. "Drive 'em out!"
Joseph turned, seeing Fahz was right. The Swarm coming from the side of the village were falling back. He narrowed his eyes, holding Lizzie's arm as the others pursued the Swarm, except Oscar. He stood, shooting after them for a moment, but there were still a few in the area from the main gate trying to escape that he stayed to clean up. Joseph and Lizzie both stood to help him with it, and within seconds, only one was left. The Scion with the maces. Joseph raised his rifle, only to stop, realizing that it wasn't just his arms covered by Locust Crystals. The majority of his body still bore the crystals, and the parts that didn't bore thick armor. Joseph sighed, putting away his rifle and drew the knife Lizzie had made him and one of those Baird had given him.
"I'll handle this," Joseph said. "Be ready."
Lizzie hesitated before nodding, and Oscar backed away, raising his rifle but holding fire. Then, Joseph lunged, and immediately shouted in surprise and pain. The Scion's right arm had swung up faster than he'd anticipated, the crystals on the mace's sides spinning around it in a blur. The mace caught him in the front of his helmet, and as Joseph crashed to the ground, his nose was broken, and his helmet landed behind him. Joseph wiped his eyes and narrowed his eyes, standing up again and readying himself for a harder fight than he was expecting. Then, as he lunged, the Scion swung again. Joseph dodged to the side, avoiding the first swipe, and the other mace, held above the Scion's head, flashed down at him, narrowly missing and exploding into the ground. And as it did, Joseph's knife flashed out, severing the tendons across the back of the Scion's hand. He ducked as the other mace swept over him, then grabbed the mace, allowing both of his knives to fall to the ground as he swung hard. The mace crashed into the Scion's helmet, hurling it backward, and Joseph took a moment to collect his knives and sheath them before lifting the mace again. The Scion roared as it regained its feet and charged. Joseph moved to meet it, and when it swung at him, he dove into a roll, barely avoiding the strike before standing and slamming the mace into the back of its knee. Its leg buckled, bringing it to that knee before Joseph again smashed the mace into its helmet. This time, the strike sent its helmet spinning into the air, but before Joseph could target its head, essentially the only place on its body not covered by crystals, it swung its mace around at him in a flash. Joseph turned, leaping into the air and gritting his teeth, grunting in pain as the blow struck his chestplate instead.
"Joseph!" Oscar shouted, running forward as he opened fire.
The Scion roared, protecting its head with its arm, then swung. Its mace caught Oscar's rifle, hurling it away from him, then swung back the other way. Oscar shrieked in pain as the mace slammed into his right elbow, the crystal spikes on it shredding his flesh and the mace's brute force shattering bone, amputating the arm. However, just as soon as the strike had landed, the Scion staggered, shaking its head, then straightened up and began to turn, only for Lizzie to drive the barrel of her Gnasher into its head, firing and blasting its head into paste. As its body collapsed, Joseph grabbed a length of rope and a broken piece of pipe nearby, instantly wrapping the rope around Oscar's upper arm, tying it, then tying the pipe into the knot before beginning to twist it, forming an impromptu tourniquet and stopping the bleeding. Once it was tight enough, Lizzie began to bind the pipe and rope in place with duct tape, ensuring it couldn't loosen.
"Uncle!" Kait shouted, sprinting over to them, sobbing.
"He'll be alright," Del said, setting a hand on her shoulder as she cried into Oscar's chest.
"Hey, now," Oscar said, setting his remaining hand on the back of her head. "There's no need for tears. I'll live. But it looks like I need someone to give me a hand." He chuckled, and Kait laughed as well, in spite of her tears.
"That's not funny, Uncle," Kait said, sniffing and wiping her eyes. "You could have died."
"This is a war, Kait," Oscar said. "We could all die. I'll be alright. Joseph did all the hard work."
"It's why I got my armor," Joseph said.
"Speaking of you," Lizzie said, reaching for his nose.
Joseph sighed. "You just love causing me pain."
Lizzie flashed him a smile, then gripped his nose and yanked, resetting it. Joseph shouted in pain, stomping his foot and swearing, then stuffed a pair of rolled up pieces of cloth up his nostrils to stop his nose from bleeding.
"Better?" Joseph asked.
"Beautiful," Lizzie said. "Other than the blood."
"Thanks, JD," Del said, after Kait and JD had shared an awkward silence when she finally noticed he was there. "For coming here."
"Of course," JD said.
"Can I, uh, maybe, recommend we get these people out of here?" Fahz spoke up finally, irritable as always.
"Hey, just slow down," Del said.
"No, Fahz is right," JD said. "We need to move."
"What are you t..." Del trailed off. "Hey, their loved ones are dead, man! Just give them a minute!"
"They'll get their minute in the trucks," JD growled.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Del demanded.
"We need to leave, Del," JD said.
"I'm not going," Kait said shakily, passing Oscar to a pair of Gears to take to the trucks.
"Excuse me?" JD asked.
"For months now, I've been having these dreams," Kait said. "Nightmares. But I think they were messages." She held out her grandmother's pendant, which her mother had given her before she died. Except now, Kait rotated the necklace, revealing that while the front was an intricate symbol formed from several lines knotted together on the square pendant, the back bore a Locust Cross emblem.
"What?" JD asked.
"Something's...Something's happening to me," Kait said, pleading for someone to tell her she was right, or maybe wrong, or to support her, showing them all the pendant, Marcus's expression darkening instantly.
"Your grandmother's?" Marcus double-checked, Kait nodding.
"Enough, we'll deal with this later," JD finally snapped. "Fahz, round these people up!"
"I need help!" Kait pleaded.
"There's a place," Marcus said. "Up north. I think we can find you answers there."
"No, no!" JD shouted, then yelped, his right arm spasming and falling at his side as he mashed the button to numb it, the hexagons all glowing blue. "Absolutely not! We have orders!"
"You'll go with me?" Kait asked Marcus.
"Goddamnit both of you!" JD snapped. "Listen-"
"We will," Joseph interrupted, Lizzie nodding and tossing her keys to Marcus.
"So will I," Del said. "Look, if you're missing, Jinn'll notice."
"Okay," Marcus nodded. "I'll push Jack the coordinates."
"No, Corporal, you're coming back to New Ephyra!" JD snarled, getting in Kait's face. "That is a direct order!"
"Well, Captain, screw your order!" Kait spat. "This isn't about you! It's about me! I need to fix this!"
She stormed off, but as Del began to follow, JD caught him by the arm.
"Hey, watch her!" JD warned him. "Her necklace. That's a Locust symbol."
"Yeah, so?" Del asked.
"She'd never be our enemy by choice," JD acknowledged. "I know that."
"Yeah, because she would die for us," Del said.
"I know that!" JD insisted. "But what if it's not her choice?"
"What are you talking about?" Joseph asked.
"You never saw what they were doing to her mother," JD said. "They connected her to the Hive. There were tentacles fused to her body. They were turning her into their queen. What if that's what these nightmares of Kait's are? What if she's their next Queen, and they're trying to turn her?"
"She won't turn," Del said flatly, then turned, walking away.
Joseph and Kait followed him, all of them heading out through the main gate. Kait and Del headed for a shed off to the side of the gate, and Joseph and Lizzie headed for Lizzie's truck and offloading the all-terrain Track Mule Baird had made them from the back. Its nose was made up of panels that could invert to expose solar panels to charge the bike, its track had deeper grooves to allow more traction in snow and sand, and its front tire was unique from other Track Mules. It was almost triple the width of a normal Track Mule's front tire, the same width as the track in the rear, allowing it to be driven on any terrain, be it snow, sand, or asphalt. And once they'd driven it over to where Del and Kait were waiting on a huge, wooden skiff powered by a massive kite sail, Lizzie pressed a switch on the handlebars and large, steel spikes emerged from the front tire.
"Ready when you two are," Lizzie said.
Kai nodded and flicked the sail's control cables, opening it and catching the wind, allowing it to yank them into motion. Lizzie sped after them, the Track Mule easily keeping pace with the skiff for speed, but the Skiff had better handling in the snow than the Track Mule. However, the drive was a very long one. As in hours. At first, Joseph kept himself ready to fight, but eventually, he put his rifle away, settling for simply holding Lizzie.
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