Gears of War: Snowblind

Snowblind

Please note: This literature is rated M for language, adult themes and situations, sexual humor and contact, violent acts, and some gore.

Background Synopsis
Attempting to relocate Jacinto’s remnant from Port Farrall to the island of Vectus, the Frost starts to take a toll on an array of insurgent camps surrounding Port Farrall. Several “groups” or clans of Stranded begin to clash amongst themselves over food and supplies, pockets of Locust begin to pick at Port Farrell’s defenses, while amidst the chaos, a nomadic faction of mostly females, known as the “Feral,” come into conflict with their new neighbors.

Just within a few weeks, deployed squads begin to discover the brutal repercussions of the clashes between the Feral and the Stranded, however, as the hostilities between the factions start to spread to the outskirts of the Port as dispatched squads, investigating attacks on their outposts are being ambushed and decimated. This forces the COG to fight on several fronts while trying to protect what is left of Jacinto’s citizens and their own armories.

Fate, however, gives the COG the upper hand as they manage to somewhat find allies within the Feral faction. The Feral have taken some major blows in the past year as a result of Locust attacks, losing a quarter of their clans, although, remnants of those clans were later found by dispatched squads. They were given sanctuary in exchange for assistance of their insight into the terrain and location of the Stranded insurgencies. Though the Feral seldom ally with anyone, the renegade Feral agreed in hopes that this alliance will protect what is left of their clans by destroying the Locust.

To quash the hostilities on land around Port Farall, the COG enlists the assistance from the renegade Feral to guide deployed Gears through the “badlands,” since their extensive knowledge of the land is crucial to locating the insurgent camps and Locust outposts as well as avoid potential hostilities with the other Feral. With the Frost becoming more unforgiving, the COG must quickly relocate the rest of Jacinto’s last remnant to the Vectus Naval Base, before the other factions and the harsh winter obliterate them.

During this time frame, the COG outpost north of Port Farrall, known as Fort Block, becomes a central outpost for squad placement, drafting, conscription, and supplies. It is here where all the squads gather to receive reinforcements and intel. To get ahead on the offensive, Colonel Hoffmann makes the decision to send out ten squads into the mountain areas surrounding Port Farrall to eliminate Locust outposts, and locate the Stranded insurgents gathering in the area. With the squads mostly consisting of new recruits while the more “experienced” Gears are running thin, Hoffmann decides to reform Sigma One, employing veteran Gears Corporal Damon Baird and Private Augustus Cole.

With the winter conditions becoming more problematic for the infantry, the Gears must now rely on the navigational wits of the renegade Feral. The squads, including the newly reformed Sigma One are dispatched in King Ravens to be dropped several miles outside of Port Farrall. Among the members of Sigma squad are veteran Gears Augustus Cole and Damon Baird, the rookie, Sven Dunrich, Sergeant Barker Milane, and their Feral guide, Raven McNight, a.k.a. Feral.

Along the way, they encounter almost calamity after calamity of unseen events that force the group of to rely on each other to stay alive and keep to the mission at hand. This story entails their little venture through the thick and thin of the hostile environment around them and their clashing personalities as humility and hilarity ensue.

Conflicting Factions:
The Stranded are the remnants of civilians left after the orbital beam attack in a last ditch

effort to destroy the Locust. Scattered throughout the land, the Stranded

have adapted to their new surroundings, while others formed organized

groups and factions. As a result of the attack, friction between the Gears

and the Stranded has been escalating, all the while, the Stranded have often

clashed amongst themselves and have come under hostilities with the Feral,

not to mention, the Locusts.

The Feral are a rouge faction, made up of mostly women in response to

the sad circumstances that are all too often, common with war. After so many

years of exploitation, starvation, rape, and murder, a group of women with

some military background formed the faction, later nicknamed as the

“Feral.” Little is know about the Feral since the faction typically keep to

themselves, with exception to breeding “seasons.” What is know is that

they are extremely organized and self-sufficient, amassing in numbers

recruiting survivors of destroyed settlements. With their strict

kata, and vigorous training, the Feral have developed techniques of guerilla

warfare that have enabled them to survive the COG, the UIR, and even the

Locust on E-Day. The Feral are nomadic and do not settle in a place for too

long to avoid being detected and hiding their numbers. This strategy has

worked for years, however, after the attack from the Hammer of Dawn and

the Lightmass offensive, the Feral began to run out places to hide and

started their offense against pockets of Stranded, Locust, and even Gears.

Gears of War: Snowblind
In a violent world where deceptions free

Things I can’t control taking over me

Did they try to take my identity

So what the hell have they done to me

I will take your thoughts away

And I’ll ignite your fear today

Well I can take you far away

With my mind.


 * Cold


 * With My Mind

Preface
The cold, thin air feels like breathing a sodden robe, as a Gear struggles to keep a steady pace, running through a dense conifer forest as if he was a deer being followed by a pack of hungry wolves.

He is what is left of Theta Four, sent to investigate a disturbance at an outpost, located north on the outside of Port Ferrall. Since the incidents on the Vectus Naval Base a few weeks earlier, outposts all around Farrall have been attacked, struck down one at a time, testing their defenses. By whom, they didn’t know, until recently. Although the Locusts attacks have been few, the others were staged by the Stranded insurgencies, gathering on the outskirts of Port Farrall.

As he runs, he can feel the collection of moister in his helmet, beading and then sweating down the side of his face and his neck. He dodges the trees, kicking up snow on the ground with only a pistol still in his holster as his only means of defense. His shotgun was dropped a ways back, after he tripped falling forward down a slope, not looking back as the snow falling in the air, mixed with the fading afterglow of the setting sun is making visibility difficult. He wasn’t being pursued, he was being hunted.

They took out his squad, strategically one at a time, as they fired their weapons in vain, already trapped in the ambush. It was apparent that someone was expecting them, but before they realized what had just happened, it was too late.

As he attempts cautiously gallop down an incline when suddenly, a shot rings out in the dense forest, whistling through the trees as he senses a sharp pain burst into the back of his thigh. He comes crashing down, tumbling down the rest of the incline, bumping into trees and brush along the way down, until he comes to a stop, landing on his back. His body starts to shake from the sudden rush of adrenaline that has been pumping through his body while his heart rate beats even faster, forcing him to pant for more oxygen.

The area is silent as he looks around, trying to stable himself, but he couldn’t move. He then heard the footsteps of his pursuer, walking slowly with care as a dark figure proceeds to move around the trees on the incline, and then disappear. The Gear tries to reach for his pistol in his holster, trying to pull it out, but the pistol wouldn’t budge.

Slowly, the footsteps were coming closer as the sound of crushing snow under someone’s boots became even more clearer, and the dark figure came out of the shadows, right out in front of him. It stood there, as if it was glaring at him, although he couldn’t readily tell what it was, a Locust perhaps, but it’s demeanor suggested otherwise. It took a few steps closer to him and then it carefully kneeled down in front of him. Immediately, the Gear could tell it had a Lancer in hand, the metal teeth glistening in the dim light, as he watched it, noticing the warm air seeping from the dark, cloaked figure’s breathing. He was petrified as it started to speak with perfect clarity.

“So…tell me Gear…what has Chairman Prescott done for you?” the figure asked, in a low voice that almost resembles human. He could see the warm air coming from it as it spoke, slowly moving and seeping into the air as it quickly dissipated. The figure then cocked its head and then turned it to the side as more footsteps begin to become audible.

Oh, no.

Other dark figures began to emerge from the trees as they all stood in their place, watching for the one who is kneeling in front of him for it’s next move. It slowly turned its head back as it stood up and then roared out, revving the chainsaw mechanism on the Lancer as the phantom bellows out.

“I…have…responsibilities, to my fellow citizens…I…shall…be loyal to them…” reciting the words of the "Octus Canon."

“I…shall…remain…vigilant and unyielding, in my pursuit of the enemies of the Coalition….” the dark figure continues to recite the oath, an oath the Gear suddenly reckognizes.

“I…am…a…Gear!”

The crowd behind him shouts and rants as they raise their weapons in the air, while the figure slowly looks back at his menagerie. As the crowd begins to simmer, he slowly turns to the fallen Gear as he revs his Lancer again, shuttering the silence with it’s violent noise while the Gear can see it’s teeth, bristling in the smoke coming from the drum.

“Here is the message we will send to the enemy of the Coalition,” the figure rants as he grips the handle on the Lancer, raising it over the defenseless Gear as he let’s out a blood, curdling scream, echoing throughout the woods. The noise of the saw, cutting through armor, flesh and bone can be heard outside the thicket shortly after silencing the hideous shriek. Then the woods become silent as night and snow blankets the sky, gently falling, concealing the blood that drenched the ground beneath it.

Chapter 1: The Shit Starts Here
FORT BLOCK, Recruitment Staging Area

A sign frozen to the utility post, hangs high, scouting over makeshift buildings and garages, looming with fuel heaters and generators, as the scent of exhaust mixed with the winter aroma fills the air with bliss and promise of food, shelter, and possibly a warm shower for a group of grimy grunts just stepping out from their APC’s from a long ride.

In the distance, King Ravens land in an open, snowy area just outside of the camp, their clamor heard all across the fort as the pilots do their routine maintenance before being deployed later in the afternoon. Fuel trucks camp along the makeshift roads as civilian volunteers shovel snow and ice to make way for gravel.

More APC’s start to pull into the fort, carrying reinforcements, as they slowly drive over the grimy, icy roads. Coming to a halt, the gears exit the vehicles and march their way to the fort mess hall, where Col Hoffmann awaits for everyone to enter the mass for debriefing.

As the Gears take their seats, the air in the vicinity takes a turn as several, unfamiliar women enter the mess hall, wearing familiar armor, attire that resembled what the Locust horde had, made of Reaver hide and other, unknown leather materials that were light, but hardy. Three of them are wearing what appears to be black war paint, possibly used to help them blend in with their environment; an alternative camouflage. The other two wore similar attire, but their faces were clean of cover, and appeared just as intimidating. As the four, wild women, lined up behind Hoffmann, the Gears could sense the Colonel was awkward within the presence of the rogue faction, only known to the Gears as the Feral.

As the group stands at the front of the makeshift tented mess hall, Col. Hoffman makes his way on top of a table that he intended to use as his podium. He looks around his fellow Gears as the crisp air around them sets the atmosphere of apprehension, as he can see the battle scarred demeanor of his mentally exhausted men, shrouding their self-assurance. The fact that they lost their place of refuge only made the men even more hardened to the bleak future that awaits them, but nevertheless, the fight for survival still runs deep in their blood, as if they we’re hardwired to wage war so they can exist. Col Hoffman has seen these faces before, more times than he will probably want to admit, though he himself is an old warhorse, still bucking against the odds as the barbwire drives him even closer to insolence. He still had some fight in him yet.

“Men…listen up,” he begins as the air around him hung onto him like a wet napkin.

“It has been confirmed that we have a new menace. Despite recent events at Vectus, we are still under threat, here on the apparent home front of some other Stranded insurgents that are rumored to be located in the mountains. We also have reports of Locust outposts, scattered all over the terrain outside of Ferrall, that are going to have to be dealt with if we are to protect the remaining citizens, here. Therefore, we have orders to deploy squads out into the uncharted territory to search for and eliminate the Locust outposts, and locate the Stranded settlements.” Hoffmann takes a few seconds to collect his thoughts as he looks over his shoulder to glance at the five women standing behind him.

“To accomplish this objective, we have allied ourselves with the Feral clans. They have volunteered to help guide the squads through the terrain, as they have extensive knowledge of the territory. With the Frost coming down hard on our asses, we must rely on their insight for the mission to be successful.”

Hoffmann takes a deep breath before he continues.

“Men, we are going to deploy the Ravens to the drop point in thirteen, hundred hours. Use this time wisely. Dismissed.”

Hoffman slowly steps off of the “platform” as he glances at the five women standing before him. He finally breaks the ice as he reluctantly speaks to them.

“Ok…which one of you can understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?”

They glare at him with startling eyes, peering through their warpaint, as they turn to each other and then they glanced over to the smallest of them.

“That…would be me, Colonel, “ the Feral on the far right speaks out as she steps forward to make her presence known, somewhat apprehensive as the crowd of Gears moves around them.

She was a little shorter than the others, although just as menacing.

“So what do I call you, Feral?” Hoffman turns his glance to her.

“My “birth” name is Raven McNight,”

“McNight, huh,” Hoffmann responds in astonishment as he recalls several officers that went by that name, wondering if there was a correlation between the two, but dismisses it for the sake of the purpose of his conversation at the present.

He sighs, "I’ll keep it simple…how bout I just call you “Feral,” says Hoffman.

“Whatever will make you comfortable, Colonel.”

“It has nothing to do with comfort, ma'am.”

“Did you…need me for some reason?” she asks in annoyance.

“As a matter of fact, yes I do…Control,” Hoffman demands as he speaks on his com.

"Yes Colonel?" A female voice replies over the com.

“Have Sgt Fenix report to me please…ASAP!”

"Affirmative Colonel, control out,"

Chapter 2: Splitting Up
Raven sits by herself in a chair, outside of Col Hoffman’s, makeshift briefing room, as she hand sharpens a pencil with her “bowie” knife, occasionally looking up as she senses others walking by, and then goes back to her journal, ignoring the on looking Gears and recruits as they casually pass by Hoffman’s office.

It has been awhile since she has been within a crowd of people. She recants the days, almost weeks at a time, when she would survey along the territory surrounding Ferrall, alone, watching, waiting, and stealing. She has snuck around outposts, even forts, without being noticed, including this one. She looks up to look at the facility as she recalls it’s arrangement in vivid detail, only to look past the crowd, getting a glance at someone approaching directly to Hoffman’s door, but then goes back to her business as the Gear proceeds to the entrance of Hoffman’s office.

Sgt Fenix knocks on the door, for the most part, keeping to himself, but occasionally takes notice of Raven’s attire that closely resembles a Theron elit. He suddenly turns his attention to the door as he looks through the window to see Col Hoffman motioning him to come in.

Fenix steps in and shuts the door behind him, not in the best of moods but not feeling for the worst either. He wasn’t too crazy about their alliance with the Feral, but their other options where quickly thinning as the winter conditions worsened within just a few weeks. The Feral knew the territory pretty religiously while the COG satellites had difficulties just pin pointing their own outposts. All this technology and resources the COG have at their disposal, and they’re outfoxed by a bunch of primeval, eccentric women. What the hell where we thinking?

Hoffman takes a seat in his chair as he gestures Fenix to do the same.

“Have a seat, Sergeant…this may take several minutes.” Hoffmann sighs as he removes his cap and sets it on the desk while he rubs his head.

“How are your men, Sergeant?’

“Cold, tired…for the most part, cold.”

Hoffman lets out a light chuckle.

“Are they coping?”

“Depends,” Fenix replies matter-of-factly.

“On what, Sergeant?”

“Which one do want to hear about,”

“Well…I’ll go ahead and just cut the shit, Sergeant.”

Fenix looks up at Hoffman with anticipation.

“I’m going to reform Sigma One, so I’m putting Cole and Baird back to be deployed.”

Fenix starts to slump in his chair, frowning after hearing the news.

“I need some experienced Gears on this one, Fenix, we have way too many recruits. Plus, I need you for another objective for the same exact reason.”

“I take it we’re short.”

“That’s just scratching the surface, Sergeant…and on top of all this, I have to depend on those wild bitches to guide them out in uncompromising conditions.”

“The Feral, sir?”

“Unfortunately. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t underestimate their capabilities but these women have been amassing arms and intel from COG outposts for years, so needless to say, I don’t trust their alliance, but circumstances have pitted me between these Locust outposts and the Stranded insurgency and we need to act on this now before the Frost hits us even harder in the next few weeks. We can’t relocate the rest of the citizens to Vectus until some of this is resolved. It’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

“With all due respect sir, how can we be sure they know what their doing?”

“About six months ago, Gamma Ten came across a decimated Stranded settlement, south of here. During the investigation, Gamma was ambushed by some “mysterious guerillas.” There was only one survivor, out of six! We lost five, able-bodied men by a pack of vindictive bitches! The Stranded apparently lost fifteen rebels, including their leader. Other squads later found those Stranded rebels of that same camp, mutilated Sergeant!”

“Mutilated, as in,”

“The leader was found, hung from a post, ass end up, disemboweled, with his genitalia removed and apparently, shoved in his mouth! Now, granted, that was an isolated case, but the fact remains those bitches were able to squash fifteen armed men, relocate them and gut them, and then turned around to take out five, highly trained soldiers. We still have yet to figure out which “clan” was responsible!”

“What was the motive for their attack?”

“Well, apparently, the settlement was using Stranded women for profiteering, and well to make a long story short, they rounded up some ladies against their will for their operation. Obviously, the Feral found it to be debasing, and decided to wipe them out and take the women to amass their own numbers. Since then, they have been rivals over territory. Now why they attacked our men, was never known…not that it matters since it has been rumored that they may all be dead now, according to these renegades, they lost several clans since the Locusts have been spreading out recently, scavenging the territory.”

“Sigh…permission to speak freely…”

“Be my guest, Sergeant.”

“I believe this whole thing to be fubar sir…we ally ourselves with a faction that we don’t even fucking understand, we’re sending men out to quash the hostilities without any intel on the terrain except that from what we gather from these bitches, and now you break up my team to spread out the numbers of experienced Gears along with recruits who don’t know their ass from a hole in the ground, well sir, I see a list of bullshit directives that’s going to put a lot of unnecessary amount of resources and lives to waste!”

“Dually noted, Sergeant…but keep this in mind…I have over three thousand and counting, civilians to relocate to Vectus island. Our primary objective is to move them and our armories safely to our new place of refuge at all cost, but how can I do that Sergeant if I have Locusts and the Stranded, getting closer to testing and eventually penetrating our defenses?”

The recent events that took place at their outposts just outside of the fort have nearly caused a widespread panic among Jacinto’s remnant. Marcus, of all people, knew that the insurgencies where getting bolder and that it was not going to stop. He groaned, realizing that time was working against them. Shit, everything was working against them.

Although he was not happy about the situation, he knew that there really was no other option. It was going to be a long day for all of them. Marcus finally succumbed to Hoffman’s orders.

“Sigh…understood. You want me to bring in Baird and Cole, or do you want me to tell them?”

“It may be best if you tell them Sergeant. I am going to have to sit and talk to their linguist to iron out some details. Only one of the five, out there, can speak fluent Tyran, the rest have some crazy dialect, I can’t understand a word of it.”

“Shit…Understood. Was there anything else sir?”

“While we’re on the subject, I am going to assign a Feral guide with Sigma, so if you would, you tell Cpl Baird to keep his sassy flak to himself before he pisses off our only means of keeping friendly relations with the Feral.”

“Are you sure you want Baird to have that responsibility?”

“He’s an admirable soldier and I believe he can pull his foot out of his ass when shit hits the fan, but he needs to be thrown in the fire every now and then to redeem himself. He’s done it before, he can do it again…besides, I’m tired of them two running rowdy with idle hands, “dicking” around like two little boys who just discovered daddy’s firework and porn stash.”

Fenix laughs to himself as he sits back up in his chair.

“Your dismissed,” says Hoffman.

Sgt Fenix stands up from his chair as he proceeds to exit the room, before Hoffman stops him.

“Oh, and by the way, tell that little Feral girl in the front to come in here for me please.”

“Sigh, yes sir.”

Fenix steps out, leaving the door open as he reluctantly turns to Raven, still seated in the chair. She could tell right away that he decided he wasn’t going to like her. Hell, she could sense same vibe from other Gears, not to mention, Hoffman. This whole idea was sour to begin with.

Marcus finally motions her.

“The Colonel wants to debrief you,” he says in his low, rough voice.

“Right now?” she responds with sarcasm, not the least bit intimidated by his demeanor, or at least she attempted not to show it.

“Yea…now.”

Chapter 3: Two Peas In A Pod
“This so, sucks balls, I can’t even begin to tell how much sucking we are in for before someone finally realizes, oh hey, wait, this really does suck balls,” Damon Baird rants to Augustus Cole as he fiddles with the motor on Cole’s Lancer, trying to loosen up the chain on the saw bar while sitting on the floor with his tools placed in between his straddled legs.

The two sat in a makeshift locker room in their bottom fatigues and undershirts as their armor was laid out on the floor, “airing” out. The scent in the vicinity was typical for a men’s locker room, filled with aroma of stale air festering with the stench of soiled clothes that’s been sitting in a locker for a week. The atmosphere was rather warm as the window unit pushed out the cold air, leaving the musty, humid air inside.

Cole sits on a bench while fiddling with his Cog tags, ignoring Baird’s ranting as he watches him intensely removing the chain off of the drum to replace the worn teeth with newer one’s. Baird suddenly breaks his concentration.

“Shit, Cole, this is the third time I had to replace this…the hell are you cutting with this thing anyway, fucking boulders?”

“Man, them Locusts feel like it…” Cole says as he turns to peck Baird on the shoulder,”…oh hey, Marcus says he wanted to talk to you.”

“What for…oh, fuck, what the hell did I do this time?”

“You think you’re in trouble?”

“I’m always in trouble,” Baird starts to rant, again.

“I swear, you and Dom can go run amuck, doing all sorts of shit while I’m minding my own business and some how, some way, Marcus finds some implausible reason to blame me for it!”

“Hehe, that’s because if we mess up, we just say you did it.”

Baird drops his wrench as he sits up and turns to Cole.

“So that’s why I’m always in trouble…because of you fuckheads!”

“Nah, I think Marcus is still pissed for what you did to him on his birthday.”

“For what…oh…wait, you mean when I tipped him in the portable potty? Oh, c’mon, that was hilarious, even Dom was laughing his ass off on that one, and you were laughing so hard you nearly wet yourself.”

“No, I was laughin at the part when he came after you once he got out, heehee…I’d never seen two white boys run so fast! I’m just ticked that I missed yo ass beatin when he caught up to you”

“He didn’t beat my ass because he never caught me! He’s almost as slow as you are.”

“Yea, whatever…” Cole mused while Baird completed the maintenance on Cole’s Lancer.

“Sweet, I can’t wait to try this out,” Cole beams as he picks it up carefully, trying not to bump the bayonet on himself.

“You’ll need to run it a few times to get the grease going or else it will stiff up, especially in this weather…we can’t be running around with a stiffy now, can we.”

The two exchange laughter as they continue to maintenance the rest of their weapons, all the while, Sgt. Marcus Fenix walks into the room, after spending the past half hour looking for them, while carrying some of their laundry.

“So there you are,” Marcus bellows out as Cole chuckles even more.

“Uh oh, you busted now!”

“Oh, hi Marcus, I mean, sir,” Baird replies with a sarcastic grin.

“Dipshit,” Marcus scoffs softly, as he approaches the two, informing them,

“Listen up, Hoffman is going to put you two back on Sigma to be deployed out this afternoon.”

Baird starts to sulk. The idea was already starting to suck balls. Speaking of sucking…

“Sigh, with who else,” he moans.

“You’ll find out when you get to your Raven, but I do know that you will have a Feral guide in your group, so try not to piss her off, please.”

“Now what makes you think I would do such a thing like that?”

“Don’t even start to patronize me, Baird.”

“Yea, yea, I get it…follow the objective without making the Feral chick mad.”

“I mean it Baird…this is an opportunity to redress your sorry ass, so try not to fuck it up…and Cole, watch and make sure he doesn’t fuck it up.”

“You got it, Marcus,” says Cole as he slaps his big hand on Baird’s back while Marcus watches Baird cringe from the sting. For the most part, Marcus could normally count on them for whatever calamity may come their way. Hell, the two have saved his ass on more than one occasion. They all have walked into hell and back, cheating death more times than they could shake a stick at. It was a sobering notion to suggest that they were “breaking” up, again.

“So I take it you and Dom are going,” Baird grimaces, still flinching from the sting.

“We’re to be deployed after you guys…you’re going to be dropped off with nine other squads to spread out in pairs and comb the area.”

“So who are we pairing with?”

“Gamma Four…and your assigned Feral is going to guide you through the region…they have scouted the area earlier this month, locating Locust camps and Stranded settlements.”

Cole gets excited,

“Ah, sweet…we get to hang out with Gamma...”

“Whoopie…” Baird mutters sarcastically, while Cole tries to cheer him up.

“C’mon, Baird, it’ll be fun! We’ll get back out on the field, hang out with those Feral cuties, be back in time for supper…”

“Their not “cuties,” Cole, their a pack of ornery wenches…” Baird groans, "…did you ever hear what they did to Omega Five, a few years back?”

“What could a handful of little chickies do to an entire squad?”

“Control lost contact with them, and they were MIA for a week.”

“So where did they find em?”

“All over…a leg here, an arm there…it took the coroner a month to piece them together.”

“Oh,” Cole’s excitement dwindled down. If Marcus ever agreed with Baird on anything, the fact that their mission is going to depend on the insight of the Feral was unsettling at best. They are just as reliable as they are malicious. Not exactly the best combination for a couple of guys who for the most part can’t seem to keep their idle hands to themselves. Marcus attempts to prepare them a much as he can.

“I doubt you’ll be back in time for supper Cole, so grab some food before you leave” says Marcus while Cole pouts, “…and here…” Marcus sneers as he hands Cole his freshly laundered undergarments. He then turns to Baird with his clean undergarments and throws them at him,

“…change your damn underwear before you leave.”

Baird manages to dodge his undershirt, but gets face planted with his boxers, as Marcus shoots a satisfying grin.

“Hopefully…you should be back by dark. Now get your shit put together…they want you to report in an hour, ” Marcus informs them as the two change their clothes and put on their chest plates.

“Oh, and guys…” The two looked back up as Marcus’s expression turns solemn, "...be sure you come back alive…you hear me?”

“You know it,” Cole blasts.

“Yea…we hear ya.” Baird responds in a more serious tone.

“Good luck, fellas.”

Chapter 4: We Are Sigma…Again
Cole throws his gear into the Raven before he climbs up into it while the pilot and copilot do their routine, radio tests. He quickly realizes that the cabin was a bit warmer than the outside, as he shudders from the two air masses intertwining. Two other Gears are already sitting inside, as they wait anxiously for the rest of their squad mates to come on board. Cole finds a place to sit, opposite of the other two Gears in the cabin. One of them finally speaks out.

“Welcome back to Sigma…you must be Pvt. Cole.”

“Yes sir, in the flesh,” Cole responds with enthusiasm.

“I hear you we’re part of the Lightmass Offensive, with Delta squad.”

“Yea, that’s right, baby…we blew those bitches sky high, hehe.”

The other Gear started to beam with zeal.

“Holy shit, it’s really you…the Cole Train,” he bursts out.

“Yea, that’s right,”

The first Gear turns to the other,

“Ok…give him a break…I’m sure he hears that all the time,”

”Nah…it’s all good…everyone wants to see The Train, baby,” Cole grins, giving him a thumbs up.

The first Gear introduces himself.

“My name is Sgt. Milane…and this is Pvt. Sven Dunrich.”

“Yea, but everyone calls me Vin, or Vinny…it’s just easier,” says Sven, trying to break the ice.

“You got it, Vinny,” Cole recants while Milane continues,

“I understand that we have a technician with us,”

“Yea, Cpl. Baird…he’s loading up some equipment…he’ll be here, sir.”

“Great…we are also waiting for our Feral guide…her name is Raven McKnight, but everyone just calls her Feral. She should be with us shortly.”

“Sweet, can’t wait,” Cole gestures as he turns his head outside the chopper to see Baird making his way to the entrance.

“Hurry up Damon…time to get this show on the road,” Cole yells out.

“Yea, yea…working on it,” Baird responds as he tosses a medical box and his equipment into the cabin. He jumps in and picks up the med box to strap it down near the bottom of the hull. He then proceeds to take a seat next to Cole.

“Sorry I’m late, but somebody insisted that we take some additional medical supplies, and nobody else, but me, was apparently informed about it.” Baird griped as he tried to get comfortable, while Cole taps him on the shoulder.

“Oh…hey, this is Sgt. Milane and Pvt. Vinny. They’re on our team.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Corporal,” says Milane as Baird extends the same courtesy, trying to be nice.

“Likewise,” Baird gestures.

Sgt. Milane was rather cordial than most officers Baird has dealt with, not to mention younger. Although Milane looked rather young for an officer, he was not near as young as the rookie, Sven.

Sven still had a “baby face,” as his short, light brown hair was slicked up into a short faux-hawk, making him look even more “juvenile” while Milane appeared to be more professional as his dark hair was shaved close to his head, but dark enough to still give him a hairline.

Milane turns his head, looking out of the cabin.

“Here she comes.”

Cole leans out to peer over Baird as he sees someone approaching the Raven to what, appears to be wearing Locust dressings.

“What the…is that a Feral?” Cole blurts out while the other three turn to face the same direction, as Milane responds.

“Yep, that’s our Feral.”

Raven walks up to the chopper as she dismounts her equipment backpack and places it in the cabin while standing on the tips of her boots, trying to push it in. The three just sit and watch as the petite woman jumps up into the cabin, using the frame of the threshold to climb in. She attempts to catch her footing when Sgt Milane extends his hand to catch her arm, but she whirls around at him as she retreats her arm back, avoiding contact. Milane shrinks back in response to her reaction, as she proceeds to place her equipment bag next to everyone else’s. Feral then scans the cabin, looking for a place to sit, but finds most of the area taken. Sgt. Milane stands up to give her room, feeling the atmosphere around her to be antagonistic, but nevertheless motions her to have a seat. She looks around with her wide, icy blue eyes and then takes up Milane’s offer to sit down in his spot.

“Thank…you,” she hesitantly says, realizing she may have made everyone uncomfortable with her demeanor, so she tries to be as polite as she understands to be. Feral was not used to being around men, much less Gears, and she didn’t like flying, period. The others could tell that she was restless.

“Your, welcome,” says Milane, attempting to make her more comfortable, although it probably didn’t help. He tries to introduce the others to her,

“Just so you know, this is Pvt. Cole, Cpl. Baird…” Milane points as the two acknowledged his introduction,” …and sitting next to you is Pvt. Vinny Dunrich. We’re all part of Sigma squad.”

“Of…course,” she says shyly as she looks at the three individually and nods while she slowly slumps into her seat, trying to be discreet. She did not like being the center of attention.

As the five get settled, the gunners take their positions while the engine on the bird begins to roar.

“This is it,” Milane yells out over the noise, while Sven sits up against the cabin, trying not to encroach on Feral’s personal space.

Baird turns to Cole.

“Did you take that pill I gave you?”

“Yea…what you say it was suppose to do?”

“It’s suppose to help your nausea, so I won’t have to wipe your chuke off of my armor again.”

“Oh, yea!”

Milane grabs onto the handle as the rotors start to spin faster and louder. Feral becomes tense as she closes her eyes and grabs the edge of her seat. Her pale face began to flush in the cold air, accented by her short, black hair as she curled her lips in anxiety. Cole could see she was nervous, which made her look even “cuter.”

Cole nudges Baird with his arm as he quietly giggled.

“Heehee…she’s pretty, isn’t she.”

Baird rolls his eyes as he subtly responds,

“We’re not going there, Gus.”

Cole starts to laugh,

“Oh, and by the way, I’m supposed to remind you not to fuck this up.”

“Son of a bitch, am I going to have to listen to this crap during the entire mission,” Baird blurts out while Cole snickers.

“You bet your white ass!”

“Fuck,” Baird scowls.

In the cabin they can hear the pilot on the radio.

"Welcome ladies to KR Four-Three, and we will be taking off very shortly, if you have not already noticed but just so you know, my name is Cpt. Nigal Jonas and I will be your pilot today, along with my co-pilot, Lt. Samus Frank. Our gunners are Pvt. Devon Fargus and Cpl. Merl Jammacia, but we all just call him “Jimmie,”

Jimmie waves his hand as the Gears acknowledge back.

"And just so you know, if you have not read the passenger manual for this flight, I am required to inform you that this is a non-smoking craft and that if you are caught smoking, it better be because your ass is on fire, which brings me to also inform you if in the event, the cabin, or your ass, is on fire, the extinguisher is located to the back of the cabin, next to the red label that says “in case of an emergency.” Thank you for your audience and enjoy the flight."

“Yea, right,” Baird grumbles while the bird suddenly jolts, as it starts to lift, slowly from the ground.

“Let’s do this, Captian,” Fargus yells at the cockpit while Jimmie gives the cockpit crew a thumbs up. The bird lifts farther from the ground as it follows three other birds, ahead of their position, while four other Ravens begin to lift after them. The crew in the cabin can see the ground turn, feeling the cold air rush around them as aircraft picks up speed and forms in position along with the other birds.

Cole closes his eyes, trying not to look down.

“Ah, man…I hope this shit you gave me works.”

“Getting airsick soldier?” Milane notices, as Cole places his head in between his legs, while Baird rubs his hand on his back.

“Motion sickness, sir. I gave him something before we arrived to take the edge off…that, and I’m tired of cleaning up his barf.” Baird responds while Milane chuckles, looking over at Sven and Raven.

Sven looks out the cabin in awe, as he savors the moment of being in the sky, looking down since he doesn’t get to fly all that often. Raven, on the other hand continues to cling to the edge of her seat as her brow sits heavy over her deep, set eyes. She was not enjoying herself at all.

“Feral, here, doesn’t like to fly, either.” Milane informs the others as he grins, while Raven conveniently ignores him. Baird turned his gaze at the little woman, noticing her vaguely familiar attire that complimented her minuscule figure. She had oddly shaped shoulder and back armor, made of some dark hardy leather-like material. A piece of cloth, similar to that of a Kantus robe, hung below her waist like a loincloth as it dangles between her legs.

Baird couldn’t help to wonder how the Farel manage to get these dressings, much less custom them for their own personal use. He then notices right away a Boltok pistol in her left holster and a Gorgon pistol on her right, both strapped to the outside of her thighs. Although the rest of her leggings were unfamiliar, her boots, however, were definitely Gear material, although they were black in color rather than brown.

Cole carefully picks up his head as he slowly opens his eyes, taking a deep breath and then slowly exhaling.

“You alright, man,” Baird asks.

“I think so…I don’t feel too shitty,” Cole responds.

Shortly after Cole’s comment, the group feels a sudden bump, as the five jerk inside the cabin.

“Oh shit…I take that back!”

The craft shook violently as it suddenly, jolted again.

“Ok, now what the fuck was that?” Baird busted out, while Cole grabs his seat, holding on fast. Blast sounds become audible around the cabin as Sven looks out to find other birds taking evasive action.

“Ah crap…I hear gunfire,” Sven yells as Feral clenches the seat even tighter, next to him.

Milane turns his head to the gunners as they ready their chain guns, and then looks towards the cockpit. The radio begins to sound off.

"Hang on ladies…we got turbulence."

“Aw, shit…turbulence my ass, we’re being shot at,” Cole groans as the Raven tilts to the right, forcing the crew to lean as the bird bumps a few more times, more violently than earlier. Cole’s dark face starts to turn green as he places his hand over his mouth, while Baird looks at him in horror, trying to hang on while shifting his body away from Cole.

“Cole…don’t you do it, man…or I swear,” Baird warns as he tries to avoid the possibility of “comet vomit.”

Capt. Jonas turns over to face the gunners from the cockpit.

"Jimmie, Fargus, fire at those bitches!"

The gunners fire their chain guns while Milane peers out of the cabin to see a Reaver passing by.

“We got Reavers…shit,” Milane barks as he starts to make his way to the middle of the cabin and hangs on as the bird starts to shift to the left. They catch glimpses of the flying, mounted beasts, as their bird attempts to fire at them.

Looking down, they could see the fire blasts, coming from ground infantry as the other birds try to dodge them. Suddenly, they see one of the birds get pummeled on the top of its hull as smoke starts to seep from its rotor. The Raven slowly starts to drop as the blades fall apart and then gravity finally clutches it, pulling it down fast, crashing it to the ground.

“Oh shit, oh shit,” Sven panics while the others look out in shock. All of a sudden, they receive another strong jolt, but this time the warning signal, starts to sound off.

“Ohhh…That doesn’t sound good,” Milane grumbles, as the others second the notion while they can hear the pilot cussing over the radio.

"Fuck…our fuel pressure is wavering guys…your going to have to brace yourselves up because I’m dropping you, now!"

“Wait…were not at the drop zone yet,” Milane protests facing the cockpit.

"We’re not going to make it to the drop zone Sergeant. Get your men ready!"

“Fuck…alright, grab your gear.” Milane orders.

The men attempt to collect their gear, all the while the aircraft begins to tremor. They could feel the bird starting to drop as the warning light continues to flash.

Cole grabs on to the cabin wall, trying to brace himself as the bird drops in short bursts, getting closer to the ground, while Baird props his foot against the hull and pulls out his Lancer. Milane prostrates himself on the other wall as he too, pulls out his Lancer, carefully looking down, as they get closer to the tops of the trees.

"Ok folks, this is it. When I tell you to jump, you jump! Don’t hesitate, don’t think…just do it! I am going to drop this thing as low as I can but it will not stay stable for long…good luck Gears," the pilot announces, trying to keep the Raven steady.

The bird hits the tops of couple of trees on the way down, trying to dodge ground fire at the same time. The forest finally clears into what used to be a small town surrounded by boulders and meadows, covered in snow.

The bird slows down close to a hover, about fifteen feet from the ground, trying to keep the rotor moving as they feel the craft starting to idle.

"Go, go,go! Move out!"

“Shit, that’s a long fucking drop,” Sven complains.

“Get out, soldier,” Milane barks as he grabs Sven by his collar and pulls him towards the exit.

Baird goes over to the exit, grabs the side of the door and leaps out. Cole makes his way to the exit and looks down.

“Aw…shit,” he bellows, watching Baird make landfall as he jumps and rolls in the snow. Cole then jumps out, feeling the crisp air sting his bare arms as he hits the ground while gravity pulls him forward into a roll in the slushy snow.

The Raven continues to move forward, while Feral is the next to leap out of the craft, dropping down into a snow trampled grassy meadow.

“Shit, I’m not going to…” Sven panics while Milane cuts in.

“You’re jumping, now get your ass out!”

Milane pushes Sven out of the door, watching him plummet in the hay bales below. The Raven begins to teeter.

"Get out Sergeant, we’re going down!"

He could feel the Raven idle even more as the bird starts to shift on its side. Milane finally leaps out, blinded by the upheavaled snow stirred up from the churning blades above. Milane becomes blind by a bright white light as he slips in and out of consciousness.

Chapter 5: Trial By Fire
Baird runs over to Cole, helping him up from out of the snow.

“Shit, that’s cold, WHOO,” Cole blasts as he brushes off the snow from his armor.

“C’mon…get your ass moving, we need to find the others,” Baird persists as he lifts his goggles to his forehead and starts running with Cole following behind.

“Hey Baird…slow down man,” Cole complains, trying to keep up in the heavy snow, while he sees Baird prostrated up against a barn and runs up over to his position, catching his breath in the thin, cold air.

“Well…what took you so long,” Baird muses with a laugh.

“Jackass,” Cole mutters as he breathes heavily, supporting his weight with his hand up against the barn wall.

Baird looks around the corner as looks out into the meadow. He scans around, hoping to find the others, and then he sees Feral nearby trying to pull Sven out of a bale of hay.

“Hey…Cole…I found them.”

Baird quickly looks to see if it was clear and then suddenly darts off into the meadow.

“Hey, HEY…wait…shit,” Cole yells as he tries to follow Baird through the field.

Feral continues to pull Sven by the shoulders, while the rest of his body is still chest deep in snow and hay.

“Shit, I’m stuck,” Sven gripes, trying to wiggle out.

“Hold still, damnit,” Feral torts, trying to pull him out by his shoulder guards, but ends up slipping and losing her grip from the snow, falling backwards.

“DAMNIT,” she yells in frustration, only to suddenly whip around with her pistol in hand to the sound of someone running towards them, while still on the ground.

“NO…wait…it’s just one of our guys,” Sven blurts out as Baird makes his way towards them.

“Yea…friendlies…don’t shoot me please,” he scoffs. Feral groans as she puts her pistol down while Baird puts up his Lancer and extends his hand to help her up. She hesitates at first, but then cautiously accepts Baird’s civility as he lifts her up from the grass and snow.

“I…can’t…get him out,” she says as Baird turns to Sven.

“Alright kid…give me a minute,” he says to Sven as he grips him underneath his armpits and pulls. Cole comes panting in as he leans over to catch his breath.

“Ok…I made it…so what’s up?”

Cole looks over as he sees Baird trying to pull Sven out of the bale.

“Shit…what the hell, Vin,” Baird gripes as he struggles to pull Sven out. Feral climbs up on the hay bale and tries to push Sven from behind, but to no avail.

Baird looks up at Feral,

“Ok…on my count, you push, I’ll pull, got it,” he said.

“Yea, I got it,” says Feral as she braces herself on Baird’s count.

“Ready, one, two, three…”

The two manage to budge Sven at least a foot, but he stops suddenly as if he was caught on something.

“Aw, man…this sucks,” Sven whimpers while Baird releases him and wipes sweat from his face

“Aha, you see Cole…I told you this whole thing was going to suck balls, and it’s only been the first, fifteen minutes.”

“Let me try that,” says Cole as he wraps his arms underneath Sven’s and starts to pull. He manages to get part of the way but then something jerks Sven into a standstill.

“Aw…shit, he’s got to be caught on something,” Cole mutters while Baird grips one side of Sven’s armor while Cole grabs the other side and the two men slowly pull Sven out of the hay while Feral jumps back to give them room. She peers around the men as she catches a glimpse of something wrapped around his boot.

“Wait…I see what’s holding him down,” Feral blurts out as she runs over to take a look while the two hold on. She wiggles through the two Gears, up onto the hay bale to get a better look at Sven’s boots.

“Geez, Vin…you got a loading strap, wrapped around your boot…give me a minute,” Feral says as she pulls out her knife.

“Aw, man…I hate knives,” Sven whines as Cole and Baird, struggle to hold Sven out.

“Quit yer whining, boy,” Cole winces.

“Hurry…Feral,” Baird moans.

“I almost got it, Corporal,” she says as she finally cuts through the last nylon thread. As soon as she cut it through, the three Gears go flying backwards as Sven plows right into Cole and Cole collapses onto Baird, forming a pile of Gears.

“Oh…wow, that’s much better,” Sven relaxes while Cole groans.

“Vinny…your…crushing my jock, kid!”

“Oh…uh…sorry,” Sven quickly dismounts while Cole clutches his groin and cringes. Cole then feels a jab in the back as Baird yells out.

“Will you get the hell off me…please?”

“Sorry Damon…hold on,” Cole squirms as he rolls off of Baird.

Baird continues to lie in his spot, groaning as he takes a few deep breaths, watching the warm air seep from his mouth and nostrils. While the three slowly gather themselves up, Feral keeps a watch out, scanning the field for a few minutes and then leaps back down from the top of the hay bail.

“I believe Sgt. Milane may be further down, towards the town,” she says as she points in the town’s direction.

“Ugh…alright,” Baird winces as he slowly gets up. Cole helps him up while Sven pulls out his Gnasher shotgun, brushing the snow and hay off of it. Baird and Cole pull out their Lancers, brushing the grass and snow off the handles.

“Follow me,” Feral persists as she started to roadie run while the three Gears follow Feral to the other side of the white meadow. They roadie run through the frozen grass, feeling the snow and ice crushing beneath their feet, while Feral staggers in different directions, hiding her trail. She suddenly halts at a sitting, rusty bailer, just outside the thicket. The others make it to her position as they hide themselves behind the massive tractor, covered in snow and ice cycles.

“Do we even know that Milane got out of the Raven,” Cole speculates.

“I saw someone jump out of our Raven while it was still sky bound,” Feral replied.

“Well, whether he did or not, we still have to locate our ride…there might be survivors,” Baird informs him as they look around the bailer, scanning for Milane or Locusts. They could hear the fire fight from a distance as the sound of flying Raven’s was still in earshot, but it soon dissipated.

“Man…I hope the others get there ok,” Cole ponders.

“But what if they don’t make it…” Sven says.

“There is nothing we can do for them now…the Corporal is right, we must help those in our immediate vicinity,” Feral quietly responds.

“Do you even know where our bird went,” Baird asks.

“I know it went this direction, but I will have to get up high to tell you where it landed,” she acknowledges while Baird nods and moves into the thicket, slowly.

“Let’s go…keep an eye out, and keep it low,” Baird advises as the others march behind him.

They walk around the tall, conifer trees, stepping over bundles of pine needles and cones, mixed in with the snow. Feral gets ahead of the group, quietly as she wisps around the trees making faint noise with her feet on the snow covered ground. The scent of pinesap tainted the dry, crisp air, as flakes of snow fluttered around the forest, making visibility faint. Feral slows down her pace, taking larger steps over piles of forest foliage gathered in heaps on the ground.

Suddenly, Feral halted and then crawled behind a brush, while the others stopped in their tracks. Baird could tell that something spooked her, and motioned the others to drop down with his hand. They waited, watching Feral for a motion or a glance but she doesn’t move, keeping her hands on her pistols.

As they peered through the air ahead of them, they could softly hear footsteps, closing in their direction. They quietly ready their weapons, waiting for the moving presence to reveal itself behind the frosty curtain.

As the dark figure moved closer, they suddenly recognize the figure to be Milane. He carefully, stepped one foot at a time, peering through the dense air.

“Friendlies,” he spoke out, as Sven, Baird, and Cole stood up.

“Yea…friendlies,” Baird responded while Milane walked over to them.

“You guys made it, that’s a comfort,” Milane continued as he loaded up his Lancer.

“We didn’t know if you made it sir,” Sven stepped in as Milane addressed him.

“Barely…our bird managed to go a few more kilometers, but I lost sight of it before it went down.”

“We was looking for our ride, hoping to find you first,” Cole said.

“Well, thanks for looking for me, but I’m afraid you’ll have to turn back around…the Locusts are coming this way.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Baird griped.

“I wish I was, Corporal…we need to move, now.”

Just as Sgt Milane finished speaking, an earsplitting thunderous voice, blasted through the woods.

“BOOM!”

“GET DOWN, NOW,” Baird hollered, as the men scattered in all directions. A loud explosion pierced through the trees, as the noise rang in their ears behind the debris of snow, pine needles, wood, and blood.

Oh God, someone got hit. Baird started to crawl on the ground, keeping his head down while trying to peer through the debris, still hovering in the air. He then looks up in front of him to see a massive figure, stepping around the trees up ahead as he hears that thunderous roar, again.

“BOOM!”

He quickly moves behind the tree as a shot rang out and pieces of branches and snow, scattered into the air. Baird flanks to the left of the massive creature as he rolls behind another tree, only to roll on top of a bloody,strewn corpse in the dense thicket.

Ugh…damn. At first he couldn’t tell who it was, but he knew it was a Gear. He pushed the distorted corpse over to see if he could find the COG tags, but the corpse was so mangled he couldn’t tell if the part was a torso or a leg.

“BOOM!”

Baird looks back to his right to find the colossal Locust, standing not too far from him, as he could feel the ground tremor beneath him with each step the beast took. He remained concealed behind the tree as the Boomer scanned for him, breathing heavily while his raspy breath gurgled in irritation.

“Over hear, sucka,” a voice rang out from a distance.

Cole…damnit, get down.

“BOOM!"

The beast roars as he fires his Boomshot towards Cole’s voice, distracting it from Baird’s position. Behind the thicket, Baird pulls out a Bolo grenade and proceeds to flank the Boomer from behind.

Baird could hear Cole taunting, as the Locust fixes his concentration in Cole’s direction.

“Haha…you missed…you can’t hit shit!”

The beast fires his Boomshot again.

“BOOM!”

Just after the Boomer launches his gun, Baird sneaks up behind the creature and plants the Bolo grenade on the Boomers rump.

“FRAG OUT!” Baird yells as he leaps into a nearby ditch behind another tree.

“Get down,” Cole busts out as the creature turns toward Baird’s position.

“BOOM?!”

Before the Locust could react, the grenade goes off, tearing up the brush around it while the Boomer let’s out a chilling scream, flailing it’s arms around the chaos. The Boomer’s rump was in bloody shambles as it tried to turn around on one functional leg.

As the beast turns around to fire another round at Baird, a shot rings out in the thicket as it echoes through the woods. The enormous brute let’s out a gurgling growl, dropping it’s Boomshot to the ground as its large body slumps down, laying motionless with it’s blood spurting into the white snow.

Baird carefully stands up, brushing the wood chips and debris off of his armor as he looks over the massive creature to find Feral stepping around it with Boltok pistol in hand, putting it back into her holster. She covers her nose and mouth with her hand, trying to block the stench coming from the Boomer’s fresh corpse.

“You alright, Corporal,” she asks.

“Yea…damn,” Baird gestures, trying not to inhale the stink.

Feral continued, “...by the way, you’re welcome.”

Baird gives her a sour look while at the same time, trying not to inhale the stench.

Cole shouts out,

“Baird…you alright man?”

Baird could hear Cole from a distance as he shouts back, “Yea…is anyone with you?”

“I got Vinny with me!”

''Oh no…Milane. It got Milane.''

Baird turned around to locate the rest of the corpse. There were pieces scattered around the brush as he looks around, trying to make sense of the body parts. Feral steps down towards Baird’s position as she looks upon the bleak picture.

“Who is it,” she asks.

“I think it’s Milane, but I need to find his tags, just to be sure.”

“Are these it,” Raven lifts up her arm, holding a set of COG tags as Baird comes over to get a better look. She hands them over to Baird as she watches him analyzing them. She could tell from his expression that it was not good.

“Sigh…it’s Milane’s…fuck,” Baird mumbles, “…how well did you know him?”

“What do you mean, Corporal,” Feral stares at him in puzzlement.

“Well…it sounded as if he knew you so I figured you two…I don’t know, got to know each other?”

“Yea…during the debriefing, along with the Sergeant from Gamma, but that was only for twenty minutes…so, to answer your question, no I didn’t really know him,” she replied, rather vaguely.

“O…kay.” Baird looks in astonishment.

Cole and Sven carefully walk towards the Boomer’s blood trenched body, still pointing their guns at just as a precaution.

“You can relax guys, it’s dead,” Feral yells out, and then turns to Baird as he looks up at her.

“We need to go back,” Baird begins. “Boomers normally come in pairs…the other one will be close by, so we need to leave, now!”

She nods as Baird looks around to see Cole and Sven coming towards their position. They slow down as they get a glance of the sprawled body parts in the white snow.

“Aw, man…we’re fucked now,” Sven panics as Cole starts to shake his head.

“You were right Damon…this is starting to suck,” Cole groans looking at their bleak situation. They have only been on the ground for thirty minutes and they were misdropped, lost, and without their Sergeant.

Suddenly, they hear Feral coming down the ground from above, panting.

“You were right Corporal…another one is coming this way, we need to go!”

“Groan, I hate it when I’m right…get back to the barn, hurry!”

Feral and Cole take off back the other direction while Baird grabs Sven by the collar, pulling him forward.

“Move, Vinny, go, go, go!”

“BOOM!”

“Shit…not again!”

Baird and Sven hit the ground as fragments of wood and ice scatter a few meters to their right.

“FUCK,” Sven screams while Baird stands up and grabs Sven, pulling him up.

“Move your ass, Vinny,” Baird yells as the two dash through the woods, running back to the meadow, trying to keep their heads down.

Cole and Feral were already at the barn, waiting for Baird and Sven to come out of the woods. As they peer through the falling snow, they see Baird and Sven hauling ass through the meadow, motioning to the others to get away.

“Move, move…get back!” Baird hollers as he runs towards them. Suddenly, form the outside of the thicket, the massive Boomer peers through the brush, growling.

“BOOM!”

The beast fires blindly in their direction as the rocket passes them up several meters ahead of them.

Cole and Feral duck back behind the barn as Sven and Baird hit the ground, rolling a few times, kicking up the snow as they try to move quickly to the barn.

“SHIT!” Sven yells as Cole runs up to grab and yank him behind the barn, while Baird is crawling over as fast as his legs and hands will take him. The four were hunkered down behind the barn out of the Boomer’s sight.

“Now what the fuck do we do,” Cole rants as Baird crawls up the wall.

Feral turns to the others.

“I know a way out, but we’ll have to run towards the boarding houses further down over there,” Feral points behind them.

“How we going to get there without getting all blowed up.” Cole barks as they can hear the Boomer blindly looking for them.

“BOOM!”

“He’s having trouble seeing through the snow…I can run out and draw his fire away from the barn,” Feral again suggests.

“Hold on a minute…you mean, run back out into the meadow…you won’t last long, Feral,” Baird argues.

“I’m the faster runner…and I am also the smallest. He will have a harder time trying to see me than you guys. No offense, but you Gears stick out like a blinking, traffic cone…he’ll definitely see you.”

Baird was about to snap back but he caught himself as the beast roared out again.

“BOOM!”

Baird grimaced as the other Gears looked at him for direction, realizing he had nothing to at the moment to stand on but Feral’s suggestion. So he bites his tongue as he rubs his eyes then peers around the corner, seeing the Boomer walking around aimlessly in the snow.

“Ugh…alright…but you haul your ass back to the boarding houses, we’ll wait for you there.”

“Got it,” Feral acknowledges.

“I mean it Feral…you better be there within fifteen minutes.”

“OK…I heard you the first time!”

Before Baird could retort, Feral peers around the corner, then lightly darts off into the meadow while the Boomer continues to scan through the snow. Baird carefully watches the Boomer as she darts effortlessly through the meadow.

“What a bitch!” Baird mumbles to himself.

“Damn…she can move fast,” Cole notices while Baird snaps him into focus.

“Get ready, Gus…you too Vinny.”

Feral slows down out into the middle of the field when she slowly stands up, pulls out her Gorgon pistol and fires it at the Boomer.

The Boomer whips around to find Raven waving her arms as she braces herself for an assault.

“BOOM!”

The shot misses her by a few meters as she ducks down into the snow, trodden grass. As the Boomer turns and walks over to her direction, the Gears run out towards the boarding houses nearby.

“Man, I hope she knows what she’s doing.” Cole whispers.

“Yea…me too,” Sven agrees.

“Hurry up guys, we need to get over there to provide some cover,” Baird reminds them, trying to keep them focused to the buildings.

Raven continues to move across the meadow as the Boomer slowly scans the area, firing another blind shot.

“BOOM!”

The three can hear it roaring as they finally make their way to the first house.

“C’mon…over here,” Baird insists as they round up inside one of the houses facing the field. As they stroll into the back room, Baird takes his Lancer and knocks out a window.

“What are you doing, man,” Cole protests as Baird kicks out the rest of the glass still clinging to the window seal.

“Vin, I need your Longshot…hand it here,” Baird orders.

“Uh…sure,” Sven obliges as he grabs his Longshot from his back and hands it to Baird.

Baird quickly loads a round into the chamber as he sets it on the window seal, bringing his goggles over his eyes and starts to focus in on the large Boomer across the field.

“The snow is too thick Damon…you can’t get an accurate shot,” says Cole.

“Yes I can…just watch.”

The Boomer continues to fire blindly, while standing in the middle of the field, growling. Baird zeroes in on his head and then takes a shot.

The beast suddenly steps back as it shrieks hideously, banging its head with its Boomshot. Feral looked up see the irritated beast turn around as it snarled in fury.

Geez, they have a hard head.

“Aw, Baird…you just pissed it off,” Cole gripes.

“One more,” Baird says to himself as he loads in the next round. He aims again, carefully focusing on the beasts’ head.

“Just…hold still…for a sec.”

He could see the monster looking right at him as he peers into his scope, looking right in between it’s eyes.

Baird fires the round, right into the Boomer’s forehead as the skull collapses and brain matter splatters onto the snow. The rest of the body stands perfectly still while the rest of the pieces of its folded head rolls onto the shoulders. The corpse stands for a few more seconds as it slowly starts to lean and then topples onto the ground.

“Hehe, look at that,” Baird muses to himself as he pulls the Longshot back into the house.

“Yea, it’s cute how they fall,” Cole snickers as Baird hands the rifle back to Sven.

“Wow…I didn’t know you were a good shot, sir” Sven says in amazement while Baird pulls his goggles back onto his forehead.

“That’s just the tip of the iceberg, kid,” Baird responds while Cole rolls his eyes.

“Uh hu, now you dunnit, Vin…now your giving him a big head,” Cole whines while Baird turns to Cole and sticks out his tongue while he pulls out his Lancer.

Feral get up from the ground as she noticed the Boomer was lying headless on the white ground. She then makes her way towards the houses, running through the snow covered grass until she gets to the main road near the boarding houses as she slows down and starts to look for the three Gears. She scans the ground to look for their trail. They have feet the size of a bear, their trail should be here somewhere.

Seeing fresh footprints, she follows them inside a house since the door was already wide open. She walks inside carefully, trying not to make too much noise with her footsteps as she peers into a vacant room. Sighing, she turns around slowly and then was suddenly startled by the sound of a gun being cocked back.

She jumps back against the wall only to find the three Gears with their weapons ready, pointing at her. She whips her head to her right to find Baird two feet from her as he lowers his Lancer.

“Gotcha!”

She gives him a sour look and steps back glancing the other three with the same expression as they relax their weapons. She was not the least bit amused.

“What the hell, Corporal,” she hisses.

Oh, and by the way…you’re welcome,” Baird scoffs.

“For what?”

“Oh, for taking out the Boomer and saving your ass. You see, Feral, we’re not a bunch of clumsy, incompetent meatheads,” Baird scowls as he continues. “We’ve been pulling our weight through all of this shit for the past fifteen years, so don’t you think for a second that you got anything on us, that would deem inferior to the Feral, or anybody else for that matter.”

The Gears could feel the heaviness in the atmosphere as Feral’s expression turned spiteful. They waited for a moment to see if she would retaliate. Instead, she steps away, irate as she marches towards the door and nudges anything in her way, while the other two step out of her way, putting up their weapons.

“Damn…she looked peeved,” Cole notices.

“She’ll get over it,” Baird mutters. “I’m not putting up with that kind of crap!”

As the three marched out of the house, they could see Feral nearby, as they made their way towards her. They could tell she was still miffed, but Baird continued to move on as if nothing happened.

“We need to make contact…where can we go to get a clear signal,” Baird asks Feral. Without saying a word, she points toward another array of trees, just ahead as she turns around and starts to trek there.

“Heehee…she’s giving you the silent treatment,” Cole quietly snickers at Baird.

“Whatever, I don’t care,” Baird shrugs as he continues to follow her, keeping the established distance she put between them. She then stops to turn around as she yells out,

“This way!”

The Gears follow her lead as they head out of the boarding community.

Baird turns over to Cole,

“See…she won’t keep a grudge for long…we’ll all get along just fine.”

“Yea, like cats and dogs,” Cole snickers.

“Rowr…fft, fft,” Baird gestures while Cole start to laugh.

Chapter 6: Lost With A Broken Horse
“Gamma Four, can you hear me, come in.”

Baird attempts to make contact with the other squads.

Deep in a forest, what is left of Sigma squad sits in wait, hoping another squad may be nearby.

“Epsilon Six, can you read me, over.”

Cole and Sven stare, hoping Baird would get an answer, while Feral starts to climb down a tree she crawled up earlier to pin point their location.

“This is Sigma One, anybody, respond…shit!”

Baird finally gives up as he sighs looking around their location while Cole gripes.

“Man, where the fuck we at?”

Sven rubs the back of his neck, shaking off the snow as he mutters to himself.

“Man, I miss my hot showers.”

“Yea, I know what you mean,” Cole agrees.

Feral is seen, jumping form a nearby ledge, keeping her pace as she slows down and reunites with the group, brushing the snow off her shoulders.

“We’re at least six miles from our drop off point,” she says.

“Well that doesn’t make any sense, we should be in contact range,” Baird analyzes as he brushes snow from his equipment.

“Somebody should have made it to the drop off point, hell, there were eight Ravens, two Reavers couldn’t have taken them all down,”

“It may be the terrain,” Feral responds.

“Or they could be in trouble,” Cole adds in, getting antsy.

“Or maybe their just busy,” Sven jumps in while the others turn to look at him, “or…not…I’ll… shut up now,”

Baird turns to the others as he continues.

“At any rate, we need to first find our ride, just in case somebody might be alive.”

“I saw smoke nearby to the north, it’s just a kilometer or two,” Feral reports.

“Then that’s our objective…let’s go ladies,” says Baird as the others gather up their equipment, following Feral through the woods.

They move carefully around the tall, conifer trees, as the cool air entices the scent of sap and pinecones. Snow starts to fall again, floating down in the air, making the air dense.

“Damn, does it ever stop snowing…I can’t see shit in this, man…” Cole complains, “…how we suppose to make out Locusts in this,”

“I can see pretty good with these goggles,” Sven beams as he takes them off to lend it to Cole.

“They even have night vision, pretty awesome, huh?”

“Well it’s not night time Vinny, besides, they may be hiding in the snow, setting up an ambush…what good will those goggles be then?”

“I doubt that,” Feral remarks as she proceeds through the dense forest, making little noise while the Gears seem to brush up on everything, making a racket.

“If the Locust do find us, it will be because you guys make way to much noise…also, their visibility is just as bad as yours, if not worse.”

“You mean ours,” Baird attempts to correct her.

“No, I meant yours…I can see just fine.”

“Uh huh,” Baird mumbles to himself, not wanting to get into an argument at the present. Feral returns a cold glare as she moves slightly ahead of them. Baird quietly grumbled as he turned to Cole,

“I can already tell this is going to be a long fucking day.”

“Whatever you do, just don’t fuck it up,” Cole reminds him sarcastically.

Baird scowls, making childish gestures while quietly imitating Marcus,

“Whatever you do, don’t piss her off…whatever, fucking piss her off my ass…” Baird continues to inaudibly ramble while Cole conveniently ignores him.

The four continue to make their way around the outside of the town as they eventually approach a stream of black smoke, coming from the nearby distance.

“Wait…hey, do y’all smell that?” Sven blurts out as the scent of burning metal seeps into their nostrils.

“Shhh,…geez Sven…you’re the worst of the three,” Feral sneers from the top of a fallen tree nearby. Baird moves up to take a look as he could see the smoke smoldering in the woods just ahead of them.

“It may be our Raven, we’re getting close, so let’s pick up the pace, ladies” Baird persists as the other two begin to move faster, while trying to make less noise, but it doesn’t seem to make any difference. They were not near as subtle as Feral was.

They peer through the forest as they see a collapsed Raven, resting on its side over a fallen log while smoke rises from its chassis. The numbers on the side were clearly visible, KR, Forty-three.

“Shit, everyone is going to see this smoke if they haven’t already…we need to hurry this up,” Baird stammers as Cole begins to climb up on top to get inside the cabin. Sven follows behind, attempting to pull himself up by the frame until his foot slips from the snow on the metal. Cole quickly grabs him by his belt, before Sven falls off completely.

“Easy kid, I gotcha!”

“Whoe, thanks,” Sven says as he holds onto Cole’s massive arm while Cole pulls him into the cabin.

“Don’t mention it, kid…the “Train’s” always gotch yo back!”

Baird starts to make his way to the front of the bird and climbs up to the windshield to get a better look, but the smoke mixed with the cold air fogs the window, not to mention blood splatter.

That’s not a good sign. He attempts to wipe off the frost as he peers into the cockpit, and sees the pilot, impaled into the cockpit door, while the co-pilot was hanging from his seat, motionless. Damn.

“Cole, anyone alive in there,”

“Nah, Jimmie’s gone…Fargus too,” Cole yells from the cabin.

“I think Jonas is gone too…damnit, he’s got a door where his chest used to be...check Frank, just to be sure.”

Baird sees Cole through the windshield, as Cole tries to carefully climb into the cockpit. He looks around and as he looks upon Jonas’ mutilated corpse, he covers his nose from the nauseating stench.

“Ugh…damn, Damon, you guessed right…ugh,” Cole moves over to check on the co-pilot. As he moves, he notices a pile of what appears to be bowels, sprawled on the cockpit controls.

“Oh…shit…is he dead?” Sven peers over Cole, trying to retain himself from vomiting while getting a look at Frank, still strapped to his seat. Cole reaches over to check for a pulse, while trying to avoid inhaling the stink, reeking in the air. Cole’s face turns sour as he looks at Baird through the window and shakes his head.

“Ah, damnit to hell…you alright Cole?”

“Yea…I just need to get some air.”

“Alright,” Baird laments as he hung his head for a minute, rubbing his temples.

“This shit’s getting old,” he mumbles to himself as he starts to make his way down from the Raven. After nearly countless years of fighting Locusts, any potential hopes of reaching normality is nearly exhausted, when he can’t seem to meet comrades without finding them maimed shortly later on. Pictures of faces, people he knew, ran through his head, lost to one calamity or another. How much longer will Cole last? How much longer can he last, not to mention Sven, who’s just a kid.

Cole and Sven start to make their way out of the cabin when they see Feral walking along the side.

“Any survivors,” she yells out.

“Natta, their all dead,” Cole responds as Baird moves to join Feral as she turns to him,

“Then we need to detonate this craft,” said Feral.

“Wait…what,…did I just hear that right?,” Baird looks up in protest.

“Take out what you might need and then detonate it,” Feral presses on as she sees the look of disapproval in Baird’s expression.

“Look Corporal, you said so yourself, that smoke is going to draw attention to itself. The Stranded are going to find it and their going to salvage it for their own ammunitions. We can’t let them do that.”

“So we just blow it with everybody in it, I don’t think so!”

“Listen, there is a rocky ledge not far from hear near that mountain. We can take the bodies there for cremation.”

“Cremation?”

“We can’t bury them, the ground is too frozen, their graves will be shallow and the animals will dig them up…and even if we could, we don’t have the time.”

Baird turns away for a moment and sighs. He didn’t like it, but he knew she was right, but he wasn’t going to admit it. He stares at the chopper for a minute and then turns to Feral.

“How far is the ridge?”

“About a fifteen minute hike.”

Baird looks up at Cole and Sven, whom were apparently ease dropping on their conversation. Cole could tell that Baird was irritated, as he looked up at them.

“Get what you can, and get Jimmie, Fargus, and Frank out. We won’t be able to move Jonas, so you’ll have to get his cog tags. We’re going to blow it up,” says Baird.

“So what are we going to do about Jonas…we can’t leave him,” Cole protests.

“Damnit Gus, we don’t have a lot time to try and yank him out of that door…at least not on one piece.”

Cole turned to look toward the cockpit then dropped his gaze to the ground, as he muttered.

“Your right man,”

“Look Gus, I don’t like this either, alright…you may be right, the other squads might be in trouble, but we won’t know for sure until we find them, if we can. Use the tarp to cover him.”

“You got it,” Cole replies as he slaps Sven on the shoulder,

“C’mon kid, Let’s get this over with.”

Chapter 7: Funeral Pyre
The fire burned brightly in the winter air as the smell of burning pine branches accents the cremation’s aroma. The three Gears watch the last remnant of their fallen comrades, burning into the funeral pyre made of rocks and tree branches.

Raven watches from a nearby ledge and then turns away, looking out for anyone that might interrupt their eulogy. She can see the smoke coming from the fallen aircraft they detonated with explosives, earlier that afternoon.

The fire picks up the pace as the smoke begins to lift further in the air, giving the Gears a final closure. They we’re going to have to move before the fires draw Locust attention, if it hasn't already. They start to pick up their equipment as they turn to see Feral moving towards them.

“We got a problem,” she says.

“A problem, imagine that,” says Baird with a hint of sarcasm, but suddenly turns serious when Feral gives him a foul look.

He responds, “Alright Feral, what is it?”

“We have a snowstorm heading this direction,” she reports.

“Your shitting me,”

“Go see for yourself, Corporal,”

Baird steps around Raven as he proceeds up the ledge to where Raven was looking out and sure enough, a dark horizon in the distance moving closer to the valley ahead of them.

“Fuck!”

“What is it Baird,” Cole blurts out as Baird quickly jumps down from the ledge.

“We need to find shelter, and fast. Now I don’t suppose you have anything in mind that is preferably nearby.” Baird says as he turns to Raven.

“We follow the river to the Hurl Damn.”

“But that takes us away from the drop point, Feral, and away from our objective.”

“There is no shelter near the drop point, and even if there was, we wouldn’t make it there before the blizzard does. You said preferably nearby, and besides, there is a major Stranded settlement on the other side of mountain near the glacier lake…”

Baird lifts an eyebrow as Raven continues,

“The dam also has a long range radio…you may be able to contact command with it.”

Baird’s turns his eyes to Cole and Sven as if he was looking for any other suggestions, until he finally looked back at Raven,

“Well…I’m sold…how about you two?”

“Sweet, let’s go,” Sven busts out as Cole joins in,

“To the damn, baby.”

Raven quickly turns around as she starts to hike,

“Hurry, this way,”

The others start to follow as they climb up through the rocky ridge into another thicket, as a light wind startles the stagnant air, a precursor of things to come as the storm slowly moves closer, and closer.

Chapter 8: Head Deep
Is it bright where you are

Have the people changed

Does it make you happy you're so strange

And in your darkest hour

I hold secrets flame

We can watch the world devoured in it's pain.


 * Smashing Pumpkins


 * The Beginning is The End is The Beginning

Sigma squad continues to follow the winding frozen river from the woods nearby, as they trek through the trees, keeping their whereabouts invisible to whatever groups may be nearby.

Feral moves around the terrain like a cougar, carefully planting her feet lightly as she conceals her trail, while the husky Gears just plow through snow and foliage, leaving tracks that resemble a migration of sasquatches.

The wind picks up slightly as a cold breeze starts to ventilate the atmosphere. To pass the time, as well as take they’re mind off of the obnoxious cold, random conversation becomes inevitable.

“Shit, it’s getting cold,” said Cole.

“It’s been cold, what are you talking about,” Baird muses as he looks over his shoulder, getting a glimpse of Cole, rubbing his massive arms, even though he was wearing an extra fleeced fatigue under his armor that extended to his elbow.

“That wind is chillin my ass off,” Cole complains.

“I’ll say, it’s like a meat locker with a giant fan in it,” says Sven as he strategically takes routes where the trees block the wind from hitting him.

“C’mon wusses, a little cold won’t hurt ya,” Baird mocks.

"Yea, easy for someone who dives bare ass in glacier lakes,” Cole sneers back.

“You better believe it. I made a lot of money doing that.”

“How’d you do that sir?” Sven looks up in interest.

“Damn, Damon, you jumped in icy water on a bet…Marcus was right, you are bat-shit crazy!” Cole muses.

“I needed the money, besides, it’s not that bad…well, at least the first five minutes of it,” Baird says as he looks ahead trying to find Feral. He finally stops as he peers around the trees with Feral nowhere in sight, muttering to himself.

“Well…where the hell she go?”

“Right here Corporal.”

Baird whips around to find Feral perched on a fallen log, just beside them as the other two also turn to the sound of her subtle voice.

“Shit, Feral, don’t do that,” says Baird, taking his hand off his pistol, nesting in his holster, strapped to his thigh.

“Do what, Corporal?” Raven responds as she leaps from the log and rolls on the ground to ease the impact of the shock absorption, and uses her momentum to stand back up. She brushes the foliage and snow off of her arms while Baird stands nearby with his hands on his hips.

“Calling me Corporal. Don’t do that!”

“Well then, what would you like me to call you?” Feral responds with some sincerity in her expression as she adjusts the holsters strapped on her thighs.

“It’s Damon Baird. You can call me Baird…”

“Or Dickhead, or Jackass, oh, and Asshole,” Cole snorts, jumping into the conversation as Baird turns around, raising his arm and extends his middle finger while Sven tries to refrain himself from laughing.

“What did Marcus call you that one time…oh yea…Dipshit! That was a good one.” Cole snickers, followed by laughter while Sven gave up trying to save face at Baird’s expense.

“Ha ha ha. Yea, laugh it up, smartass,” Baird sneers.

Feral finally cuts in and breaks the ice.

“Sigh, so…Damon Baird it is. I don’t know if I should even attempt to use the other suggestions.”

“Give it time, baby…before you know it, you’ll be calling him a jackass too.” Cole responds.

“Uh huh,” Feral grunts as she turns to look at Baird, watching him roll his eyes.

“Anyway…” she continues, “…the area ahead appears to be clear up to the edge of the forest, but I wouldn’t let your guard down just yet.”

“Sure…whatever,” Baird mutters as she gives him a nod and continues to move ahead, leading them through the woods. The three pick up the pace, trying to keep up as they start to close the gap between them and Feral.

“Damn, are we getting any closer to this place?” Sven complains while trying to keep up. Baird intentionally bellows, sarcastically dragging his feet like a defiant child,

“Yea, are we there yet?”

“Almost,” Feral remarks as her face was still focused on the trail ahead of them, ignoring their sarcasm. Sven moves up hoping to pass the time by making conversation.

“So…Raven is it…or do you like to called Feral?”

Feral turned and looked at him with astonishment, never giving it a thought that a Gear would ask her about anything other than the mission at hand. But then again, I guess it would be natural for someone to ask another for his or her name.

“You call me whatever makes you comfortable, Vinny,” she responds, as the other two divert their ears, eavesdropping on the conversation.

“Yea, like psycho bitch,” Baird mutters to Cole while Cole tries his hardest not to laugh.

“You know, these ears do work,” Raven snorts as she keeps her head forward.

“Otay…” Baird retorts as he staggers sarcastically, “…at least we know she’s not broke!”

Cole begins to chuckle.

“Man, you really do need to mature,” Cole suggests while Baird gives him a sarcastic look.

“Then you need to stop laughing at me when I act immature.”

While trying to save face, Cole moves up closer to the front to walk beside Raven.

“So why did your folks name you after a chopper, anyway?” asks Cole.

Sven butts in from behind, trying to stay into the conversation.

“Yea, I hear people name their vehicles after chicks but I never heard of people naming their chicks after vehicles.”

Raven looks at the both of them with a burrowed look, as if she didn’t think the question was relevant. As she recants the words of her clan leader, an aged woman of insight, Raven remembers being told that her solitude is merely a temporary walk of life that will one day end. If Raven was to ever enter the right of passage for procreation, she must understand man’s plight. Yea, the epitome of idiocy, but she figures if she is ever going to maybe one day, reintegrate back into society, she’ll need to be more hospitable, especially when it concerns answering irrelevant questions.

“My…foster parents didn’t name me after the craft, they named me after the color of my hair…like a raven, the bird,” she says.

“So…wait, foster parents? So…you we’re adopted? I thought you we’re a Feral.” Cole buzzed, trying to make sense of it all.

“I am, I joined them later on.”

“But you’re not a natural born Feral?”

“My biological mother was a Feral, my foster parents eventually informed me,”

“And yo real daddy,”

“Don’t know…she didn’t get much of a look at him I guess,”

Cole looked perplexed as he tried to make sense of what Raven was telling him.

“You guess!?”

“She was raped Private,” Raven reveals coldly while Cole’s eyes widen as if she let a big cat out of the bag.

Raven continued, “...which…consequently, led to my conception. All I was told was that he was a soldier, so it would probably be safe to assume that he is most likely dead.”

“Oh…sooo,”

“And my real mother abandoned me shortly after birth, so I was adopted shortly later by a COG officer.”

“So your foster parents were citizens of Tyrus...now that explains why you can speak our language so fluently,” says Baird, putting the pieces together.

“Yes…you would be correct,” Raven responds, trying not to be impressed with Baird’s insight.

“Which means you probably grew up in a COG school, went to a COG church...”

“You got it.”

“So when did you become an official Feral?”

“When did you become a COG soldier?” Raven turns as she peers over her shoulder to see Baird exchanging glances with Cole as he grinned. Baird then sighs,

“I was nineteen…when I “volunteered.” Baird responds, signing quotation marks.

“Isn’t the recruitment age for a Gear seventeen? Why so late?” Raven responded as she turns to face him, walking backwards. Baird didn’t respond, instead he just smiled as he lifted his chin up, looking down at her. She then turns back around, looking forward.

“Ok, so when and why did you join the Feral?” Baird pressed on. Raven was silent for a few moments, wondering if she should even amuse him with an answer, but for whatever reason, she decided to entertain Baird’s curiosity.

“I ran away from home when I was fourteen.”

“So why did you run away?” Baird insisted, hoping to get into her head.

Raven suddenly came to a halt as she stood still, glancing at the ground, resting her left hands on her holsters. The others also stopped, wondering what she was doing. She then broke the awkward silence as she turned around to face him.

“Because, I refused to be bred like some horse, producing stallions for the cause. I ran away so the COG couldn’t take me to some “breeding farm” where young girls we’re being exploited, molested, and raped.”

The atmosphere suddenly went from friendly to tense, as accusations filled their heads of what truly went on at the “breeding camps.” Although the details of those incidents where still unclear, the truth eventually bled out, but how Raven knew about it at the age of fourteen was even more unclear. Raven continued,

“I hiked into mountains outside of Ephyra, where a Feral clan was just passing through, and I was taken in from there.”

Raven turned back around and picked up the pace, putting distance between her and the Gears, consequently ending the conversation.

“Damn…that was an earful,” Cole said quietly as he turned to glance at Baird.

Baird just shrugged his shoulders and continued forward, while Sven was just dumbstruck by the info overload, following the other two as best he could.

So much for their “friendly” chat.

They eventually catch up to Raven as they see her perched up on a boulder up ahead, looking out. As they move near the edge of the woods, the wind bristles through the branches, causing them to flap. Peering out onto the river ahead, the Gears look out into the scenery, only to find their destination, at last. Hurl Dam.

Chapter 9: Incident at Hurl Dam
Roadie running through a rough landscape, in the cold, filled with rocks, big rocks, in three feet of snow and ice, while dodging bullets at the same time was not listed anywhere in the fucking handbook, Sven griped to himself as he ran close behind Cole and Baird, trying to make sense of the commotion around him. He didn’t have the slightest idea where he was or where he was going, all that he did know that he was being shot at, right on the brink of an oncoming blizzard, and trying not to slip and fall on his already frozen ass.

The three find cover behind a bed of rocks, where Raven was already, impatiently waiting for them, while trying to ready her pistols.

“Damnit, you guys need to keep up!” she barks over the noise of the endless ricochet.

“It’s kinda hard to keep up, Feral when we’re carrying several pounds of armor and equipment, running in knee, deep snow, going up ON AN INCLINE!” Baird busts out while at the same time tries to keep his head down, his Lancer already in hand.

“DAMN, where did this shit come from,” Cole howls while checking his Lancer to make sure their was a full clip of ammo already loaded in it. Sven frantically loads his Longshot, trying to push the round in while his hands where shaking from the sudden adrenaline rush.

“I thought you were suppose to know where all the Locust outposts are, Feral,” Baird nagged.

“This was not here the last time I checked, Baird!”

“Oh, and how long ago was that…last year?”

“Well, ever since you eggheads dropped Jacinto into the abyss, the Locusts have scattered all over this area. They don’t stay in one spot for too long…and just so you know, it was two weeks ago!”

Suddenly they hear a shrilling growl, echoing from a distance.

“Aww, crap!” Baird huffs.

“Yea, we’ve heard that noise before,” Cole pouts, as he moves closer to Baird’s position. Raven peers around the snow, covered rocks as she gets a glimpse of the enemy,

“Grinders!”

“AW, shit…what do we do now?” Sven panics.

Raven quickly turns around to face the three Gears.

“There’s a trench over there…on the left. That may be your better destination for cover.”

Baird moves over to Raven as she points towards the location of the trench.

“And that place over there,” Baird points out, further from the trench, a fallen tree next to a boulder incline.

“Can you make that?”

“There’s a lot of crossfire between here and there, and my armor is too light to take that much contact…I’m not a bullet sponge,” Raven declares, and she was right. Her armor was not as resistant as the Gears, and was not designed to take direct contact, much less blunt force trauma. Baird looks up to analyze their position and then drops back down and turns to Raven.

“Alright, look…we can make it to the trench, if we haul ass. I’ll get Cole and Vin to provide cover fire, but once we get there, Cole and I can draw their fire, over there and then Vin can draw their fire from here so you can make it to the log.”

“Yea…wait…I’m staying here, by myself?” Sven gripes in horror.

“Look, Vin, we need your sniper cover here, do you understand?’ Baird looks Sven in the eye. He could see the kid was scared, he knows exactly what is being asked of him.

“Look kid, I know you haven’t had a lot of encounters like this, but it’s time to grow up, Vinny…this is what Gears do.”

As Baird continues to look at him, Sven starts to calm down and nods his head.

“Now, get your skinny ass up there, look through your scope and tell us what do you see?”

Sven moves up, carefully climbing on top of the side of the rock, kicking the snow off as he plants his rifle down, peering towards the Locust horde.

“Shit…ok…I see two Grinders…uh…some Bolters, Grenaiders…there’s another, a Cyclops maybe, I can’t tell, the Grinders are stirring up too much snow.”

“Get back here, Vin,” Baird calls out.

“On it.”

Sven climbs back down to their position.

“So, you got a plan Damon?” Cole inquires.

“Let’s just say I have a general idea, but we need to spread out…Grinders get confused with multiple targets. Feral, your coming with me,” Baird gestures to Raven.

She turns her head around to respond,

“Alright…wait, what?”

“You’re coming with me…”

“…now wait a damn minute,”

“Oh, for crying out loud, I know for a fact you can haul your tiny ass a pretty good ways without contact…and besides I’ll cover you along the way, so does that satisfy you?”

Raven gives him a scowl, but nods grudgingly while Baird turns to the others.

“Cole, stay here with Vin and give him cover…see if you can take out some of those Bolters.”

Baird proceeds to Raven’s position.

“Are you ready?”

“Wait,”

Raven, pulls out her Gorgon pistol with her left hand and her Boltok on her right. She puts in some fresh clips and nods.

“Ok, ready!”

“Ready Cole?”

“I gotcha back!”

“Let’s go!” Baird yells as Cole fires his Lancer towards the Locusts nearby. Baird and Raven quickly dart off toward the trench as Raven moves ahead of Baird while he points his Lancer and fires toward the Locusts. Raven quickly leaps into the trench, through the snow with Baird not to far behind, quickly rolling in, and moving up right next to Raven. Baird shakes the snow off of his head and goggles while Feral rubs it out of her hair

Cole and Sven continue to exchange gunfire, pitting the Locusts close to the frozen river just up ahead. The Grinders continued to open fire from a distance behind the frontline. Sven moves his scope and takes a shot at a Bolter close by, literally lobotomizing his head completely off the rest of its standing body. The headless, upright corpse starts to slowly slump down as blood from the main artery on what used to be it’s neck, continues to spray blood while it spouts all over the white snow.

“Oh yea, eat it!” Sven busts out with more confidence.

“Good shot, kid!” Cole complements Sven as he loads in a new clip and returns fire, all the while taking out a Grenadier nearby, knocking him backwards as he bellows.

“WHOO, yea, I got enough for all of y’all!”

Sven continues to take out the frontline, one at time.

“Damn, its like shooting ducks at the carnival,” Sven said.

“Yea, them Grubs ain’t too bright,” Cole recants, as he fires off his Lancer.

At the trench, Baird quickly reloads while Raven pulls out a couple of Nape grenades.

“You alright,” he inquires as Raven prostrates herself against the trench wall.

“Yes, I’m fine…just...trying to get myself together here.”

“Ok, it’s Gus’s turn!”

Baird turns his attention back to the pile of boulders where Cole and Sven are waiting.

“You ready, Cole?”

“You know me, the Cole Train is always ready, WHOO!”

Baird rolls his eyes.

“Yea, whatever, ready…GO!”

As Baird turns toward the locusts to return fire, Cole jumps out, darting to Baird and Raven’s location, while Sven continues one by one, executing retreating Locusts.

Baird continues to fire as he takes out another Grenadier, and then drops back down to reload his Lancer, while Raven, in his place fires her Gorgon pistol in short, abrupt bursts. Cole finally rolls into them with his pack slammed to the wall next to Raven.

“WHOO, yea…that's what I'm talking about, so now what?” Cole persists, impatiently waiting to get back into the game. Baird turns to Raven as she hands him her Nape grenades.

“These are Nape grenades…they have about a five to eight foot radius, and they’ll burn up to fifteen minutes,” says Raven to Baird as he nods. and replies,

“Alright, wait for my signal…Cole we need to provide cover fire for Feral so she can move, you got it?”

“Yea I hear ya baby…just gimme a go,”

“Ready Feral,…go!”

Raven dashes through the snow, almost on all fours, to the broken down log nearby. She leaps and summersaults under the log, brushing up against the boulder, right next to it. She looks back over to Cole and Baird and nods.

“That a girl,” Baird mutters in a low voice, “…she made it.”

As most of the locusts on the front line we’re picked off, the Grinders begin to move in as the growling voices of the Grenadier before them yells at them to attack.

“Grind…” the Grinders taunt, hideously laughing as they slowly moved forward, firing their weapons in Cole and Baird’s position.

“Shit, they just keep firing…don’t those things ever run out of bullets?” Baird fumes as he looks over to Sven, waiting for Baird to give him the nod.

“Ok Cole, you got it?” Baird hands him one of Raven’s special nades.

“You mean towards the Grinders,” Cole asks.

“Yes…on my signal,”

“But…these things aren’t going take em’ Grinders out, are they?”

“We’re going to find out, Cole.”

“Wait…these aren’t frags!”

“I know that Gus…just throw it…and don’t miss please!”

Baird nods to Sven as he points his Longshot towards the two Grinders moving towards the trench. He shoots one directly into the head as the overwhelming beast shrieks in fury from the bullet, ricocheting against its helmet, toppling it off it’s thick head. The Grinder moves his attention to Sven as he peers over to the bed of rocks.

“Grind…” the monstrous sized Locust bellows as he proceeds to fire his Mulcher toward Sven, while Sven quickly takes cover behind the boulder, feeling the rock, chip fragments raining on his head.

“Holy crap…” Sven yells as he covers his head with arms, dodging the oncoming shards.

On the other side of the two Grinders, Raven peers over the log as she points her Boltok pistol and shoots the other Grinder in the head, popping off his helmet, following a burst of shots from her Gorgon pistol. The brute then fixates his attention to Raven as he turns his body into her direction.

“Grind…”

“Here it comes,” she mutters to herself as she quickly dislodges from the log, down to the ground and wraps her arms around her head as the wood chips scatter in all directions.

With the two Grinders shooting in opposite directions, Baird and Cole get ready for the final assault.

“Alright Cole, NOW!” Baird blasts as the two swing their Nape nades towards the Grinders. The nades bounce across the slushy ground, as they continue to roll right under the Grinders feet. The two stop firing as they turn their heads back to Cole and Baird and then they glanced each other.

“Grind?”

Suddenly, the nades burst into flames, splashing napalm in the air underneath the Grinders feet, scorching their legs. The burly beasts squeal like a pack of wild boars, flailing their enormous arms, only making matters worse for them as it just feeds more oxygen to the flames.

“Yea, it’s just like jock itch, only hotter,” Baird hollers while Cole stands up to taunt some more,

“Haha, burn bitches, burn!”

Suddenly, a foul stench scents the air as it spreads across the trench.

“Aw DAMN…that’s NASTY,” Cole whines as he quickly covers his nose.

The shrieking sobers down as the two beasts topple to the ground, still burning.

“Fuck that stinks…VINNY, you alright?” Baird yells out towards the rock bed.

Sven tries to pull himself out of a pile of snow and rock chips as he steps up into view.

“Yea...holy cow…what the hell is that smell?”

Cole turns to Baird, still covering his mouth,

“Shit, Damon, the fire is still going…where did she get those things? They not standard Gear equipment!”

“The Feral apparently can make their own arms. Those were definitely home-made.” Baird replies, as he tries to keep a straight face despite the overwhelming odor of the napalm still burning the Locust carcass.

Baird turns his attention to the log as he covers his mouth, trying to filter out the stench of burning Locust flesh.

“Feral, you alright,” he yells out. No response.

Cole and Baird start to walk around the pile of blazing Grinders, making their way to the log.

“Feral…hey Raven, you there,” Baird calls out again, but no response. Cole picks up the pace, keeping his hand over his mouth, trying to peer though the thick smoke, coming from the burning carcasses.

“Feral, you alright…say somethin baby,” Cole starts to worry as he presses on through the smoke. He took a liking to Raven, despite that she was kind of a cold hermit, but then again, he liked all chicks. Maybe she’ll eventually come out of her shell, but he wouldn’t leave it up to Damon to help him with that, he’s just as solitary as she is.

Cole steps out of the smoke towards the log when suddenly, he hears a gurgling voice as he whips around to find a Grenadier about ready to launch his Gnasher shotgun directly at him. But before Cole could even raise his Lancer,suddenly, a loud shot rings out, as the Grenadier’s head explodes off his body and tumbles into the snow. Cole steps back in awe as he looks around, only to find Raven, standing from behind from where the Grenadier stood. She quickly swung the Boltok pistol back into her holster after shooting the Grenadier’s head off.

“I’m fine...thanks for asking,” she responds matter-of-factly as Cole just stands there in shock. Baird comes running through the smoke, coughing, with his shotgun in hand.

“Hey…damnit Feral, don’t scare us like that again. You just shaved two years off of Cole’s life expectancy…” says Baird as he turns to Cole.

“Gus…hey, man…you alright,” trying to snap Cole out of the moment.

“I just saw an angel man…I thought it was coming for me,” Cole admitted, sobering up from what just happened. Baird slaps him on the shoulder and then turns around to see Sven, staggering his way to them.

“You ok Vinny?”

Sven makes his way through the mess, covering his mouth while his goggles were still over his eyes.

“Geez, this place reeks, can we get out of here?” Sven rants.

“Yea man, let’s get out of here…damn, that shit is still burnin,” Cole agrees, while Baird nods his head, then looks toward Raven as she signals,

“C’mon, this way…hurry! The wind is getting bad.”

As the three load up their gear, they quickly make way to the place where the Locusts were camping.

“Wait, Feral, we need to check the bodies. Look for ammo!” Baird shouts as he begins to rummage one of the Bolters for paraphernalia. Raven halts as she waits for the Gears, searching the area for ammunition. She turns to look up at the sky as the clouds thicken and air takes a nasty turn. C’mon guys, you need to haul ass.

Suddenly, gusts of wind thrust through the air, nearly knocking Raven off her feet. She quickly braces herself against a boulder, while Sven runs up next to her, also bracing with the boulder, while placing his hand over his face, trying to protect himself from the flying snow, stinging his face.

“Hurry Baird, we need to move now,” Raven shouts.

“Alright, I’m coming,” Baird responds as he takes a piece from a Grenadiers nap pack and shoves it under his breastplate. He gets up and runs towards the others as they make their way up to the dam entrance, trying to stay afoot in the sudden gusts of wind.

They hike to the side of a cliff, to find a metal door, lodged into the rock. Raven runs toward it and latches to the handle to try and open it, but she couldn’t budge it. The wind was too strong for her to hold her footing and opening it. Baird runs up towards her as he steps in to turn the handle, but it would not move.

“Oh fuck this!” Baird stammers as he pulls Raven away from the door, pulling out his Lancer. He revs up the chainsaw a couple times before he plows into the door’s mechanism, then pulls back after he successfully cuts through and kicks the door open.

“Get inside,” Baird yells over the whistling wind, as Cole and Sven follow Raven into the entrance. Baird is the last to go in as he grabs the door and slams it shut behind them.

Chapter 10: Warm Winter Night
Growing up it all seems so one-sided

Opinions all provided

The future pre-decided

Detached and subdivided

In the mass production zone

Nowhere is the dreamer or the misfit so alone

Subdivisions

Rush

The stale, musty air unsettles as noise of clambering echoes down a hallway inside what apparently was at one time a kitchen. Cole rummaged into the pantry, as he pulled out cans, checking for expiration dates and content while Sven was on the other side of the room, pulling out pots and pans, placing them on the counter as he stacked them one on top of the other.

“No…no…no…shit, all they got here is spam and some funky looking beans,” Cole complained as he continued to search through the canned food, looking for the day’s grub.

“Let me know what ya find, I got a big pot and some little ones,” Sven says as he continues to stack them on the counter.

Cole sighed as he looked at their bleak menu. Spam…and beans, ugh. Cole moves away from the door and opens up another pantry and starts to rummage through some bags of flour. As he shoves them aside, he accidentally pushes one off the shelf. As it plops on the concrete floor, it busts open and little roaches suddenly scatter from inside the bag, while Cole shrieks, jumping up onto the countertop.

The yelp startles Sven, as he quickly jumps up from the bottom cupboard, bumping his head on the cabinet door above him and accidentally knocks the stack of pots onto the floor.

From clear across the hallway, Baird sits on the floor in the communication control room as he tries to salvage the wiring from the radio consol to an outlet that has long been corroded. He pulls out a clump of tangled wires, half of them looked as if rats have been having a field day, chewing on them. He starts to cuss under his breath as he begins to untangle the mess, when he hears a scream and the clamoring of banging kitchen utensils down the hall.

“What the hell was that?” he looks up, trying to quickly untangle himself from the mess as he pushes the chair and console platform with his feet so he could get up and run to the commotion. He darted outside the room, hitting the wall as he braces himself from slipping on the tiled floor as he runs to the kitchen. He barges into the room with shotgun in hand, yelling,

“What is it?”

He starts to scan the room, only to find Cole standing on the counter, hugging the pantry shelves with one hand as he waves a broom in the other, while Sven was fumbling on the floor with the pans.

“SHOO…little bastards…those things are nasty,” Cole blurts out while Sven tries to grasp his equilibrium, clutching his head with his hand.

“Aw…aw man, does anybody have any ice…I think I have a knot on my head,” Sven whines.

Baird stands there as he drops his shotgun to his side.

“I come running all the way down the fucking hallway, thinking something bad just happened and you two are screaming like a bunch of school girls over some fucking cockroaches?”

“BEHIND YOU,” Cole shouts, as Baird whips around to find an eight, inch, grotesque cockroach, right behind him, prostrated on the wall.

“SHIT,” Baird blurts out as he grabs the shotgun and fires a round at it.

“Shit yea, shoot it Baird,” Cole hollers, while Baird jumps back from the ugly thing, realizing he missed as the giant bug suddenly leaps from the wall to the center island of the kitchen, next to Baird.

“Fuck, get away from me,” he yells while he takes another shot at it. Sven runs over to the corner next to Cole as he puts his hands on his ears, cringing from the shotgun blast.

Baird missed it again as it jumps and flies over to where Cole and Sven are cowering.

“Damnit, Baird…you missed it, again,” Cole yelled out as Baird was swinging his gun at the thing until all hell brakes loose when it jumps away from Baird and lands on Cole’s leg.

“SHIT…GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF,” Cole screams as he starts shaking his leg, nearly falling off the edge of the counter while Sven squeals, running over to Baird and bracing himself on his shoulder.

“Will you get the fuck off of me,” Baird yells at Sven still clinging to his armor, as he tries to push him off. Cole finally loses his footing as he grabs the top shelf to keep from falling, but he was just to heavy for the shelf to brace his weight, so it snapped in two as Cole comes crashing down, taking the other shelves below it, with him.

As Baird tries to push Sven off of him, he steps on one of the pots on the floor and loses his footing as it slides right out from under him, sending his legs flying up in the air, taking Sven down with him as they both go crashing on the floor.

Meanwhile, further down into the basement of the facility, where the bathrooms are located, Raven sits on the toilet, reading from a pile of magazines next to the sink that was left there some ten years earlier. She puts the magazine down while finishing her business and proceeds to pull up her pants when she suddenly heard what she thought sounded like gunshots. She quickly grabs one of her holsters and pulls out her Boltok pistol as she races to the stairs, still holding her pants up with her other hand as she tries to make her way to the commotion. She dashes into hallway while trying to button up her fatigues at the same time, when she suddenly hears the uproar coming from the kitchen nearby. She darts into the kitchen with gun ready, only to find Sven sprawled on top of Baird, lying on the floor in an unflattering position, while Cole was buried underneath a large pile of boxes, shelving, and food cans. She stood back in puzzlement as she lowers her pistol and places it on the counter next to the door.

“What happened?” she demanded as she could hear Baird moaning below.

“Sven…will you please…get your ass out of my face and get the fuck off of me…your crushing my balls.”

“Oh…ok…on it,” Sven cringes as he tries to prop himself on his hands and feet, lifting his weight off of Baird. Suddenly, Baird folds like a piece of paper into the fetal position on his side as he groans, clutching his groin.

“Ugh…sir, my head is spinning…” Sven comments as he shakes his head, trying to lift himself up, using the countertop.

“Shut up, Vin…my whole body is aching…no thanks to you, groan,” Baird moans.

Cole starts to move, slowly as he lifts some of the debris from his head and back, looking around at the rest of the mess the three just made.

“Damn…did we get it?”

“Get WHAT…what the hell where you shooting at?” Raven stammered as she puts her hands on her hips, trying to make sense of the menagerie.

“Grr…I think I…got it,” Baird cringed, still curled up on the floor, still clutching his balls.

“What…did…you…get?” Raven articulated impatiently.

“It was the motherfucker of all cockroaches,” Sven started to explain while Raven just glared at him with a sour expression, wondering if he was still loopy from falling on his head.

“I swear…it to be about this big!” he lifted his hands trying to justify the means, as Raven rolls her eyes and throws her hands in the air.

“You guys we’re shooting at fucking cockroaches…what’s the matter with you people, somebody could have gotten hurt!”

Baird slowly looks up at her, still curled on the floor.

“Are you still here?” he muses.

She scoffs at him as she picks up her pistol and quickly storms out of the kitchen back to the bathroom, cussing under her breath as she stammered.

Cole looked up from the floor and just so happened to see some cans of chili that were shoved underneath the counter. His face beamed as he yelled,

“Hey, guys…looks like we got some grub…and it’s the good stuff too.”

“Great…you get it started…I’m going back to the control room,” Baird grunted as he finally stood up, grabbed his shotgun and started limping back down the hallway.

Raven was back in the basement, picking up the rest of her gear where she had left it in the bathroom. She puts her belt and holsters back on and proceeds out of the bathroom. As she comes into the hallway, she walks past the control room to find Baird fiddling with the radio. Although she has never used the radio before, surely it must be in some working order, everything else here was working OK. Maybe there was more damage to the facility than she remembered the last time she stayed for a couple of nights. She steps in to see Baird’s progress.

“Is it working?” she asks, after she simmered for fifteen minutes from her spat earlier.

“Just about…but only one of the generators is working right,” he replied.

Baird shifts his position to get more situated, cringing from the pain in his groin that Sven fell on earlier.

“I know…when the Locust came, I believe they shut off the other generators, leaving the emergency one on. Over time, they started to corrode, with the exception of that one. But it has its limits…it will only switch on for no longer than about two hours.” Raven recalls, as she bends down to where Baird is working.

“Well that’s no surprise. The filters have not been properly maintained in who knows how long…when did you say it was deserted?” Baird asks.

“At least five years…maybe a little longer, according to the daily technical logs in the other room over there…” Raven points out as she gestures toward a storage room on the right of the control room as she continues,

“…but to put plainly, I don’t think they did alot of maintenance before they abandoned the facility. I think they just made up entries in the log to make it look like they were doing their job.”

“Yea…well all the wiring here is a big fucking rats nest…I just spent almost thirty minutes trying to find the damn cable to the radio, and don’t even get me started with the modem cable…and it’s supposed to be wireless!”

“Well a lot of the radio equipment here was hardly updated…” Raven moves in and kneels over to see Baird groaning under the mass of wires. Raven finally had to ask,

“…sigh, do you need help?”

“What, no…I mean…shit, uh, is there spare equipment in storage room?”

“Yes, why?”

“I just need a few wires to router these ones. They’ve been chewed up.”

“I’ll see what I can find,” Raven says as she gets up and goes to the room to look around for a spare computer console. She spots one in the corner and moves around the storage boxes to pick it up. She holds it in both arms as she moves to the doorway into the control room. She suddenly realizes that she has not seen Cole or Sven in a while.

“Hey, where are Cole and Sven?”

“Why do you wanna know?”

“Just in case they start shooting at the damn rats!”

Baird chuckled as he answers her question,

“Cole found cans of chili underneath the counter, so their making it in the laboratory.”

“The laboratory?”

“Yea.”

Raven hands Baird the spare console as he proceeds to take it apart. Raven moves over to sit in a chair nearby, rubbing her temples.

“Should I even ask as to why their fixing chili on bunsen burners, when they could be using the stovetop.”

“No, you shouldn’t.”

“Ok, really, what were you guys doing in the kitchen?”

“Don’t ask that either.”

“Well what the hell can I ask you, Damon?”

Baird was silent for a moment while he continued to disassemble the consol. Raven continues as she breaks the silence,

“Are you going to start shooting at the sugar ants in the bathroom, because if you are, please let me know ahead of time so I won’t have to go in there!”

Baird groaned for a moment, she’s not going to let this one down.

“Yea yea, you just keep rubbing more salt in the wound,” Baird grumbled while Raven continued.

“Damn right I am…you guys nearly scared the crap out of me…literally!”

“For real?”

“I was in the bathroom when I heard you guys…doing whatever it was you were doing.”

“You’ll get over it,’ Baird sneered as he continued, “…is they’re anything else you want to ask?”

“Ok, so why did you volunteer to join the COG at the age of nineteen instead of seventeen?”

Baird was kind of surprised that Raven remembered their conversation from earlier when he declined to answer it. But instead of rebuffing her, he went ahead to satisfy her curiosity.

“I was an intern for technical engineering, but when I needed additional funds to work on my degree, I was given the option to either volunteer or I would have to pay for school on my own, and it just kinda went down hill from there.”

“So you actually went to a college?”

“More like a tech institute.”

“You interned for two years?”

“One and a half years.”

“One…wait, when did you graduate high school?”

“Sixteen.”

“How did you accomplish that, I thought you had to complete certain courses prior for graduation?”

“I finished my junior and senior requirements early. Then I went to work for a year as an apprentice for auto mechanics and engineering, so I got a head start.”

Baird looked up at Raven as he could see the perplexed expression on her burrowed, blue eyes. He couldn’t tell if she was amazed or envious, or maybe both.

“I was dedicated, what else can I say…that, and it kept me busy,” he shrugged and went back to work.

“Besides, how do you know about high school, you never completed it,” he conveniently mentions.

“Are you calling me a stupid dropout,” Raven snides.

“Did I say that you were?”

“It sounded like you insinuated it.”

For someone who didn’t finish school, she was pretty sharp. This only tempted Baird to pick at her brain even more. Hell, she was doing it to him.

“It sounds like you have a superiority complex.”

Raven instantly changes the subject.

“Do you even like being a soldier?”

“Do you like being a Feral?”

“I became a Feral as a means to an end.”

“Well, there you go.”

“So you do believe in the COG cause.”

“I believe in the cause, working together for the sake of humanity, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that I blindly agree with all of their decisions.”

“For the sake of humanity…and this is coming from a guy who doesn’t like being around people…I find that amusing.”

Baird pauses in annoyance, and then replies with sarcasm.

“Oh, so I amuse you…well, I guess I should be glad that I’m useful for something…seriously, do you actually believe that I concur with everything the COG does?”

“Do you really believe that I agree with everything the Feral does?”

“Sigh, so you don’t like being a Feral, do you.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Then what are you saying, Raven? You don’t like the COG and you don’t like the Feral, what the hell do you like?”

“It doesn’t matter what I like, because this world will never let me be what I am.”

“And what is that?”

Raven pauses for a moment while Baird notices the silence and peers over his workstation. He sensed that she either didn’t have an answer to that question, or she did, she just didn’t want to answer it.

He can only guess that she was wedged into two worlds that won’t let her fit in, therefore defiance, is her only means of self-expression, while her true identity is suspended somewhere in limbo. Is it any wonder she’s so pessimistic. He decides to change the subject.

“Is there anything else you would like to ask?”

“Like what?”

“Well, you can ask me if the radio is working.”

“Oh really…wait, it’s working?”

Raven gets out of the chair and moves over to the radio consol, while Baird lifts himself up off the floor from under the consol.

“Yea…I just need to get the tower online,” he said.

“You can do that by turning on the main breaker,” Raven mentions as she hovers over the control panel.

“Where is the breaker,” Baird asks.

Raven replies, “In the basement…I can get it while you get the signal started in the meantime. You should be able to access the transmission frequency from here”

“Got it.”

Raven goes out of the room to the basement entrance as she makes her way to the stairs to the breaker box.

For a recluse, she’s quite resourceful, Baird ponders, which only made him even more suspicious. He sensed that she knows more than what she’s letting on, and he intended to somehow find out.

In the basement, Raven opens up the door to find six, color coded handles, labeled for each of the stations in the compound. She pulls the one marked, com tower. After she pulls it, the lights flicker throughout the complex. Cole and Sven where still cooking in the laboratory when suddenly they looked up towards the commotion of electrical impulses fluttering through the florescent light bulbs above. “What the hell was that all about?” says Cole while Sven tries to keep the burners lit.

In the control room, Baird finally makes progress in opening contact to the outside world. Raven walks back in the room.

“Can you call command,” she asks.

“Working on that now…Come in control, do you read…this is Sigma one, do you read?”

The speakers go static while Baird attempts to change the frequency to get a better signal. He tries to make contact again.

“Control, this is Sigma one, please respond…anybody, respond.”

The static starts to clear as a faint voice seeps into the transmission.

“Please repeat, your signal is weak.”

“Hello Sigma one, please respond…”

“It’s Anya,” Baird murmurs to Raven as she anticipates commands’ response.

“Control, this is Sigma one, can you read us?”

“We can now…Cpl Baird, is that you?”

“Affirmative.”

''“We’ve been trying to find you since your bird went down. Other squads were deployed after we lost all but four Ravens. Alpha One has been attempting to locate the missing squads…who is with you?”''

“Pvt. Augustus Cole, Pvt. Sven Dunrich, and Raven McNight. Our Sergeant, Milane, is KIA.”

“…Understood…what is your present location?”

“We are at Hurl Dam. It is the only way we can make contact at this time. A snowstorm is in our vicinity and I do not know how long we can stay here. Over.”

''“Understood Baird. As of now, we only know of three squads that are proceeding to their objective, so for now, Colonel Hoffmann orders you to take charge of Sigma, and that you are to proceed from the damn when weather permits. What is your present destination?”''

“We will wait until the storm passes to proceed to go through an electrical conduit that runs through the mountain. It is rumored that there may be a major Stranded settlement somewhere on the other side, but we need to go investigate it to be sure.”

''“Understood. Have you made contact with other squads?”''

“Negative, for whatever reason, we cannot make contact. Does command have a green light? Over.”

''“Hold on Sigma…yes, proceed to your objective. The other squads are scattered and they're having the same problem you’re having. Try and reestablish contact when you can. Good Luck, Corporal.”''

“Sure thing…thanks Anya.”

“And Damon…be careful.”

“Affirmative to that…also, have you heard from Sgt Fenix or Alpha one?”

“Hold on Corporal…”

Suddenly the speakers go static, while Baird tries to keep the connection.

“C’mon, c’mon, don’t do this to me now…control, can you read me, over.”

Raven goes out of the room to peer out a small window as she sees the storm picking up the pace as the wind starts to bellow around the outside of the complex.

“Control, this is Cpl. Baird, can you here me?”

Nothing but static can be heard through the speakers. Raven comes back into the room as she reports to Baird.

“The storm is probably the cause, we need to get moving into the conduit before the power goes out too.”

“Shit…alright. Go get Cole and Sven, tell them what’s up.” “Alright."

Raven makes her way around the hall into the laboratory as she sees Cole and Sven stuffing their faces with a bowl of chili and some rolls they found in the freezer nearby.

“Hey, Feral, look what we got,” Cole blurts as he holds out a bowl filled with rolls.

“We got to pack up and go guys. The facility is going to lose power soon,” she says.

“But we just got here, and we have all of this food,” Sven wines as he tries to stuff it all in his mouth before they have to leave.

“Well…take the burners with you, they run on gas…and take the pot, there should be a lid for it…but we need to go, now!” Raven insisted as the two start to gather up their equipment and food, heading down to the basement and into the electrical corridor that leads to the conduit.

On the way, Raven stops next to a storage room in the corridor and props it open as she goes in and rummages through the ammunition and supplies stored in it. Cole turns his head around the corner to see what is inside.

“Ah,damn…where did all of this shit come from?”

“Grab some ammo and flares...here,” Raven hands Cole a couple of flares as he takes them and puts them in his pack. He steps in to pick up some rounds for his Lancer, while Raven gathers up a couple of Nape grenades. Sven also steps in to take a look around.

“Wow, it must be my birthday, look at all this stuff, man,”

“Yea, I wonder how it got here,” Cole wonders as Sven helps himself to some rifle rounds.

After Baird finishes up in the communication room, he gathers up his stuff and makes his way to the basement and into the corridor where he finds the rest of his squad rummaging the supply room as if it was a yard sale.

“What…who…where did all this shit come from?”

Raven ignores Baird’s suspicion as she hands him some Lancer rounds and a handful of flares.

“We’ll need these to make our way through the conduit.” Raven says as Baird takes them and puts them in his pack. He quickly notices a pile of geobots in the corner, along with some other technical equipment and enough chemicals to make several widespread bombs that could take out an entire block. ''Where did she get all of this? The COG doesn’t hand this stuff out just to anyone, much less a pack of guerrilla bitches.''

The lights start to flicker as Raven grabs some flashlights and hands them to Baird and Sven.

“Alright, we need to move,” says Baird as he steps out of the room and makes way towards the conduit entrance. The others follow as they light up a couple of flares.

They step down to the ground as they peer into a large, dark corridor, while the electrical channels run along the ceiling of the corridor. The air suddenly starts to get cold.

“Ah, what the hell is this? Why is it getting cold in here?” Cole complains.

“The corridor leads out to the mountain. There is no facility on the other side so it would only be natural that the temperature will eventually conform with whatever the temperature is outside,” Raven explains as she moves forward with a flashlight.

“Which means it’s going to drop below freezing in here, real soon,” Baird adds as he turns to Raven, hoping she had an alternative to walking through a freezing corridor with no power or light.

“There is a utility room ahead. It’s not completely insulated but it’s better than nothing. We can stay in there,” Raven acknowledges to Baird’s concern.

“Yea, you see Baird, Feral takes care of us…we got grub, we got some light…hey, what else do they have at the room?” Cole muses.

“There is one bathroom with a sink and toilet…and plenty of blankets and pillows,” Raven reassures the group as they continue to walk in almost complete darkness, if it weren’t for the flares.

“Hehe, sounds like heaven to me,” Cole relishes as he slaps Baird on the back, while Baird returns a punch in the arm. Sven picks up the pace next to Baird.

“So what do we do when we get there…I mean…how long are we going to wait out this storm,” Sven asks.

“How the hell should I know… eat your food, take a shit, go beat off if you need to, I don’t care,” Baird scoffs.

Raven notices that the group was getting pretty weary and tired, especially Baird. He seemed already pretty battle hardened to begin with, but he spent the first part of this day jumping out of a falling helicopter and running around in the cold weather, getting shot at. How would anyone feel after all that?

Cole on the other hand, was always full of optimism, ready to take on anything as if he literally eats adrenaline for breakfast. Raven found the pair rather amusing since one seems to compliment the other.

“There it is, up ahead,” Raven points out as they raise the flare to the metal door.

“Get this bad boy open, it’s getting cold out here,” says Cole as he starts to turn the lever to activate the bolt mechanism. The door cranks open as stale air quickly ventilates out through the opening.

“Wow, this thing must have been closed for awhile,” Sven notices as Cole and Baird pull the heavy door to open it further.

“Get in, Vin,” Baird orders while Sven goes though, followed by Raven, who turns on the switch in the room to activate the lights. Baird goes in followed by Cole as they start to close the door, and lock it behind them.

“Alright Sven, get the burners out man, lets eat some grub,” Cole suggests as Sven puts down the pot and pulls out the burners on a table and turns them on.

“Hey, hand me some rolls willya,” says Baird as Cole pulls out two and hands them to him. Baird takes a seat next to Cole as he stuffs one of rolls in his mouth.

“Not bad, huh,” Cole grins as he watches Baird nodding his head while trying to chow it down. Feral steps over and around the space, hogging Gears as she helps herself to the chili and scoops it up out of the pot with a coffee cup.

“That’s it, baby, take what you need…you look like you could use a meal,” says Cole as Raven takes a roll from the pot and then takes a seat on the floor, propping herself against the wall.

“Are you saying I’m too skinny, Private?” Raven responds, before she sips her cup.

“I’m just sayin, you been working all day hiking and saving our hides, you could use a good meal…oh, and you can just call me Cole, or Gus, or the Cole Train,”

“Or shitbag, or numbnuts,” Baird adds in while Cole kicks him in the leg.

“Cole Train…I don’t get it,” says Raven in confusion.

“You never heard of the Cole Train?” Sven blurts out in shock, along with everyone else in the room, especially Cole.

“Should I have,” Raven admits as she found little grounds to be even remotely impressed.

''She actually doesn’t know who Cole is. This was absurd, everyone knows the Cole Train, right?''

Baird starts to chuckle while trying not to spit his food out at the same time.

“You mean to tell us…that…you don’t watch thrashball…and that you don’t know who the Cole Train is…this is priceless,” Baird continues to laugh, as he looks at Cole who seems to be dumbfounded by Raven’s response. Raven rolls her eyes as she breaks the ice.

“Actually, I did watch thrashball with my dad…when I was seven. But whatever the circumstances may be, Cole it is…and speaking of meals, you eat like a damn horse!”

“Yea, that’s me, baby…my momma always used to tell me that she would go broke just fixin my breakfast.”

Raven could tell he never missed a meal. The guy was built like the native snowbison bull, stout and strong. She could see how some Feral would find him to be potential for good breeding. Many Feral breeders picked men of impressive “genetics” when they have the choice. She see how he would be a potential, but he wouldn’t be her first choice. But he is sweet, I’ll give him that.

“Yep, I could eat all day if I wanted to.”

“In it that the truth, “ Baird mumbled as he stuffed the last bit of his meal in his mouth. He stands up and starts to strap off his chest plate.

“Hey Cole, give me a hand, willya?”

“Sure thing,” Cole says as he gets up to take off his armor.

While Cole helped Baird to remove his armor, Feral couldn’t help but to wonder what hormones the COG were feeding these guys. Although Baird was not quite as massive as Cole, his physique was not at anyway lacking either. She knew that Gears were men of such quality and had to be in terrific shape, although her impression of Damon, as far as genetics was concerned, was prospective, but the Feral would most likely remove his tongue to silence his flak.

Sven, on the other hand, was slightly smaller than Damon, maybe a couple of inches shorter, but still just as potential as any other competent soldier, if only he wasn’t such a dits. Then again, his youth was the most practical, from a breeding perspective, since some breeders prefer younger males, especially the juvenile females. The Feral seem to frown upon senior males mating with their younger stock. Raven gets up to go to another room to pullout pillows and a blanket. She brings them back and throws them on the icy floor. Though the air was not near as cold as the corridor, it was still a bit chilly inside the utility room.

As Cole goes to cleanup in the bathroom, the other two try to settle down for the night, gathering the pillows and propping them on the floor while attempting to get comfortable. Raven walks over Baird’s sprawled legs as she finds a spot against the wall and starts to dismount her holsters on her thighs. She then takes off her chest gear, leaving on her combat fatigues and loincloth. She sits down rubbing her arms to stay warm, even though she was for the most part, fully clothed.

“Cold?” Baird teases.

“No Baird…I’m just hugging myself,”

“Smartass,"

“Yea, well it takes one to know one, doesn’t it.”

Baird rolls his eyes at her as she huddles down, reclining on the wall while leaning against a pillow. Sven also huddles down against the wall, after he dislodges his breastplate and lays it down next to his Longshot.

“Dang, can it get any colder in here?” Sven complains.

“Well, Vin, since it’s below freezing outside, I would say, yea…it’s going to get colder.” Baird scoffs as he takes his goggles off his head and shuffles his blond hair with his hand. He turns to look at Raven, still huddled against the wall and suddenly notices that Cole was right, she was kind of tiny. She couldn’t be more than five foot, five inches tall and probably weighed no more than one hundred, twenty-five pounds, literally less than half of what they where. How did she ever survive in this on her own? The lights inside the room start to flicker while the three look up, wondering how long they have before the power goes out completely. Baird sets up a flashlight just in case as the three try to get comfortable on the cold, concrete floor.

Sven tries to prop himself with three pillows as he strategically places them around his core to keep him warm, but it doesn’t seem to be working for him.

“Ugh, this sucks…can’t we use the burners for heat?”

“No Vin, we don’t want to die from carbon monoxide poisoning.” Raven responds, slightly shivering as she pulls up her legs and wraps them with her arms, curling up on the floor.

It was so pitiful, Baird just couldn’t take it anymore.

“Sigh, alright…Feral, come over here.”

“What do you want, now,” she turned over and looked at him in puzzlement.

“Your not going to stay warm sitting up against a wall, Vinny’s not going to stay warm humping the pillow, and I’m sure as hell not going to be getting much sleep trying to keep my balls from shriveling into peanuts so come over here…you too Vinny.”

“Oh…uh…ok sir,” Sven obeys as he moves over and sits next to Baird.

“C’mon Feral, you too…we’re going to have to huddle.”

“Uh, I don’t like that idea, so…no,” she stares at Baird with a bitter expression.

“Look…just…sandwich yourself between Vinny and I, so we can keep each other warm…it’s the only way, and I seriously doubt this storm is going to pass us during the night.”

Raven continues to give him a blank stare. Baird rolls his eyes as he continues,

“I’m not asking you to marry me or anything like that…just…cooperate with us for a change instead of isolating yourself all the time…We’re supposed to work as a team, so why don't you start acting like it!”

Even though she found the idea to be appalling, she new he was right. So she reluctantly, started to make her way to the two Gears as she carefully began to sit down between Sven and Baird, while Baird opens up some blankets and places them on the floor underneath them.

“Ok, put your back to me, and Vinny, you put your back to Feral,”

“Ok sir,”

“And stop that sir crap, there’s no formalities here, kid.”

“Oh…sorry sir…I mean, ugh…I think I’ll go to sleep now.”

“Good…that means you can shut up now,” Baird griped as Raven attempts to make herself comfortable between the two men. As she nestled her backside closer to Baird, Sven would cuddle closer to Raven, with the back of his head, resting against her chest while Baird rested his chin right above her head. After they all finally get comfortable, the plan seemed to work as they thawed out from the crisp, cold air. This wasn’t so bad after all.

Baird let’s out a sigh as he props his head on his pillow, feeling Raven’s soft, hair nestled under his chin and her back brushed up against his torso. For a petite thing, she was pretty warm and cozy, but he didn’t dare to think any more of it beyond just that. But he couldn’t help to wonder if she thought of the same thing, which may be the reason why she was so reluctant before he swayed her to the idea. So he decides to break the awkward moment,

“This doesn’t mean we’re engaged or anything like that,” he says as Raven begins to chuckle.

“Was that a laugh?” Baird muses.

Raven takes in a deep breath and slowly exhales as she warms up next to him.

“Yes, Damon…it was a laugh,”

“And I was beginning to think you hated me,”

“For what?”

“Oh I don’t know…for being a “dick,” I guess.”

“You can only be what you are, Damon.”

“Yea, a dick, right?”

“No…just being Damon,”

Her answer catches him by surprise and was at loss for words when he suddenly heard stomping on the floor. Oh no!

“Ooo, oo, I want to cuddle too, move over, baby,” says Cole as he drops his pillow next to Baird and proceeds to cuddle up next to him. “Hey, hey, hey, easy Gus…shit!” Baird protests all the while Cole wraps his big arm around both Baird and Raven, pulling them closer to him. Raven could feel the squeeze from Cole’s massive brace, just meshing her tight into Baird’s sternum.

“Ok, knock it off, man,” Baird barks.

“But you’re so nice and warm, baby,” Cole nuzzles in closer.

“Hey, don’t you call me baby when you got your arm around me…the matter with you?” Baird sneers as he jabs his elbow into Cole’s ribs, pushing him back.

“Seriously…Cole…could you loosen up a bit…please?” Raven cringes, trying get past Cole’s hand, around her waist. He knew he kind of overdid it, but hey, at least he got to cop a feel, so he loosens up his grip. Sven shuffles back up to Raven as he puts a couple of pillows underneath his arm and curls into the fetal position. He sighs as he drifts to sleep, nuzzled between the pillows and Raven’s body heat.

Cole throws a blanket over himself and Baird, while Raven covers herself with Baird’s arm and Sven’s backside. Despite the awkward arrangement, all four finally huddled together for the night, feeding off each other’s warmth as they try to get some sleep.

“Hey, Damon,” Cole whispers.

“What is it, Gus?”

“I love you man.”

“Keep this up and I’ll shove my foot up your ass.”

“…Oooo, that sounds kinda kinky, heehee.” “Oh, shut up…”

Raven let’s out a slight snicker, amused by Damon’s homophobia.

The lights flicker again until the power finally went out, leaving nothing but the flashlight as their only source of illumination. As the four “cuddle” for the cold evening, Baird let’s out a sigh and starts to rant,

“…and just so you’re wondering… Cole, and you too Vinny,” Baird begins to inform them.

“This…does not, get out…ever.”

Chapter 11: A Cold Day in Hades
Back and forth you wander

through your mind

winter's passing over

but it won’t find you

Take what you can

change the seasons

Isolate yourself and

you will find

there’s no rhyme or reason

that it won’t find you

And I will find you

although I wonder

If I will climb through

this rock I'm under

I'm turning the page for something new

I'm finding my way through life in bloom

Seasons

Veer Union

A sense of warmth, creeps over Damon as he moans, cradled in the bliss of the body heat like an infant in utero. Stirring while half asleep, he peers with bleary eyes into the partial lit room they took refuge for the night away from the bitter cold, raging out in the wilderness that inevitably leaked into the corridor. The strategy he compromised worked as he was finally able to get some decent sleep despite they were on a concrete floor. Fortunately, between the pillows and each other, the night was much more comfortable than he anticipated.

Suddenly, an abrupt noise splits between the audio of the buzzing coming from the breaker box in the other room and Sven snoring, obnoxiously. Damon twitches from the audible bang, coming from inside the conduit.

Still groggy, Baird rubs his eyes while yawning as he tries to look around, stirring between the mass of bodies, nuzzled against his. As he moved slightly, he turns his bleary gaze down next to his torso as he quickly realized Sven, instead of Raven, was snuggled up against his chest. Repulsed as he shuddered, he pushes Cole’s massive, arm off of him and shoves Sven away, not fazing Sven at the least, whom was still snoring.

Ugh, he gripes as he gets up to brush the male, koodies off.

On top of the male “bonding,” along with the chilled, nip air and the sudden noise coming from conduit, it was not a bright morning. Or was it morning? Baird pulls out his watch from his pack as he looks at the time. Crap…it’s morning…that means we have to go out in this shitty weather.

He carefully walks around, stepping over the two Gears as he starts to casually, kick Cole. He wasn’t going make any effort to bend over and touch him to wake him up.

“Cole…Cole, c’mon man, get up.”

Cole begins to stir as he opens up his eyes and let’s out an enormous yawn.

“Shit…what time is it?”

“It’s eight.”

“Already…damn.” Cole snorts, as he slowly gets up. Baird walks over to Sven, still snoring, and starts to kick him too.

“C’mon…get up shitbag,”

Baird kicks him a few more times, but Sven just continues to lie there, still fast asleep.

“Damn, that boy is a heavy sleeper.” Cole chuckles while Baird walks over to the table, grabs a cup and proceeds to the bathroom sink. He fills the cup with water and then steps back into the room as he makes his way over to Sven and dumps the water on his head. Sven, suddenly screams as he fidgets on the ground.

“Fuck, that’s cold…" he yells.

Cole starts to laugh.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.”

“Geez, warn me next time," Sven groans as he slowly crawls over to a chair and lifts himself in it, using the blanket to wipe the water on his head.

“We need to get going. I heard something from outside…where in the hell is Feral?” Baird notices as the other two just look at each other and shrugged.

“Alright…just, grab your gear…and take a blanket or two.”

“You got it,” says Cole.

“Sure,” Sven yawns, gradually picking up his rifle.

The three Gears put their armor back on and load up their weapons while they gather up the unused flares and flashlights. As they gather up their supplies, Baird notices that one of the flashlights is missing.

“Ok, I am going to take a wild guess that Feral went out of the utility room.” Baird mentions as he finishes loading up his gear.

“Maybe…whoe, wait…do you think she left us?” Cole ponders.

“Sigh, how the hell should I know, Gus, I just work here.”

“Well, we need to go find her.”

“Whoe, wait…who’s this we stuff?”

Cole gives a Baird a conspicuous glare.

“Whaaat?” Baird scorns, as Cole retains his demeanor. Baird finally gives in.

“Ugh…fine, we’ll go out and find her…shit.” Baird groans while Cole starts to grin.

“Oh c’mon man, you can’t tell me you wouldn’t want a piece of that.”

Baird rubs his sinuses between his eyes in annoyance.

“I try not to think about it, now damnit, Cole…fuck, now I’ve got that in my head, thanks a lot, asshole!”

“Heehee…I was right!”

“Does that mean we’re going outside?” says Sven in between yawns. Baird turns to give Sven a look of pure sarcasm.

“No Vinny, we’re just going to sit here and sing campfire songs all day long until our balls freeze up and fall off,”

“Ew, that’s not cool,”

Baird begins to gesture his irritation.

“YES VIN…WE ARE GOING OUTSIDE!”

Baird stomps over to the door as he yanks it open and storms out into the corridor.

“Uh, I guess he isn’t a morning person,” Sven mutters.

“Nah, he’s like that all the time…twenty-four, seven,” says Cole.

“Great.”

Sven and Cole follow Baird out into the corridor. Baird lights up a flare, while Sven turns on a flashlight, moving around the lit area circumference as they look around. The corridor was otherwise, pitch black and for the most part, quiet.

“Maybe she went back to the dam.” Sven mumbled, waiting for another scolding from Baird.

“Sigh, that may be a possibility…shit, I really don’t want to have to go back there,” Baird remorse’s.

“Shit, me neither,” Cole adds as he shifts his chest plate into place.

Suddenly, a faint noise breaks the silence as the three Gears turn their heads to the same direction down the corridor to where the noise originated, from. Baird carefully lifts up the flare as he steps ahead of them, trying to extend their visibility. He yells out,

“Feral…is that you?”

There was no response. Baird called out again.

“Ok, Feral, if it’s joke it’s getting old.”

Again, no response but the same noise startled them again as it was closer than the first time they heard it. Baird slowly moves his hand onto his pistol in his holster as he slowly takes a few more steps forward, with the other two behind him, getting their weapons ready. The three try to peer in the dark as far as the light would let them, but nothing was in site.

“Maybe it’s the wind,” Sven speculates out loud.

“No, it’s not the fucking wind, Vinny,” Baird retorts quietly.

“Wait…did you here that,” Cole whispers.

“Yea…it’s getting closer,” Baird responds as he slowly pulls out his pistol, while the other three take a few steps back behind Baird. He turns his head over his shoulder to see them stepping back.

“Ok, what the fuck guys…get your asses up here!”

But before they could respond, a sudden snarling, low crawling beast jumps out of the dark, advancing at Baird.

“WRETCH,” Cole blurts out while Damon tries to melee the beast off of him.

“SHIT, get off me,” Baird hollers as he melee’s the beast again and again, until he shoved it away and then shot at it until it laid motionless. He carefully walked over and kicked it a few times to see if it was dead. The wretch didn’t move.

“Son of bitch…there’s bound to be more, we need to move in,” Baird commanded.

“You mean we have to go after them,” Sven griped.

“If we don’t, they’ll just keep coming at us in the dark…ah damnit.”

“You think…they got Feral.” Cole worried.

“Sigh, we’re going to find out, Cole.”

Baird took out his Lancer and then threw his flare down the corridor to expand their visibility. Just as the flare stopped moving, more wretches started to climb out from the darkness and started making their way to the Gears.

“Oh, shit,” Sven squeeled as he tightened his shotgun in his hand.

“Get em,” Baird roared as the three began to fire at them from a few meters away.

“WHOO, yea, bring it,” Cole busts out, as he marches into the fray, swinging his massive arms on top of them.

“Oh, you want some more if this?”

Cole starts to fire his Gnasher while Sven melee’s with his.

“Yea, suck it down,” Sven gets into the moment as more charge in. Sven then takes out two more with his shotgun.

Baird quickly puts up the melee handle on his Lancer as he revs up the chainsaw bayonet. As a wretch darts in his direction, he plummets the mechanism into the snarling beast as the blood and entrails scatter all around, blinding the other wretches near it. Pulling the Lancer back after he sawed it in half, he kicks another with his boot while meleeing another with the Lancer, using the teeth of the saw to hack it.

Nearby, Cole decimates several others with his shotgun, leaving a mangled mess on the ground while some more continue to keep coming.

“Damn…we got some more closing in,” Cole yells out as Sven and Baird brace themselves for another assault.

As they make their way into the light, Cole and Sven step behind while Baird fires his Lancer, taking out a few before they move in closer.

Baird revs up the bayonet and starts to cut into the crowd, while Sven melees with his Gnasher, swinging his shotgun, knocking off a few heads. Cole stomps on a few as he swings his shotgun, sending one flying across the floor of mangled masses.

After Damon finishes cutting through a few more, the assault comes to a halt as they look around, trying to find any more live one’s. “WOOT…that was awesome,” says Sven, amazed with himself.

“Hehe, you know it,” Cole adds as he kicks a few out of the way.

Baird steps around the garbled cadavers, to pick up the burning flare he threw out in front of them.

As the three try to make their way out of the pile of wretch carcasses, they suddenly here a faint voice coming from a distance. They turn to see someone coming, holding a light as it started to come closer.

“Guys, is that you?”

They instantly recognize it to be Raven, moving towards them out of the darkness, panting as if she had been running for awhile. “Damn, baby…you can’t just be walkin out on us like dat,” Cole scolded as Baird joined in.

“Cole’s right, damnit Feral, we were thinking the worst.”

“Wait a sec…we were thinking the worst...or was it you that was thinking the worst,” Raven responded, while still catching her breath. He instantly changes the subject,

“You can’t keep leaving us in the dark, Rav. How the hell are we suppose to follow you if you’re always a mile ahead of us?”

“Well, first off, I thought you would still be asleep, and second, I had to check and clear the corridor. Everybody else was looking for shelter from the storm and this corridor was a perfect candidate.”

“Yea, well you missed a few.”

“These must have been the ones who took off. There was quite a handful of them earlier, we’ll be passing them up here shortly.” “What do you mean, a handful?”

“Sigh, you’ll see Baird…this way, I'll escort you to the exit.”

Raven turns around to continue down the corridor while the others followed, keeping their weapons ready. Raven turns over her shoulder, “Oh, by the way, the storm has dissipated.”

“It’s still pretty fucking cold.” Baird grumbled as he observed the warm air bursting form his mouth as he griped. Cole pulled out the blanket and wrapped it around his arms while Sven placed his sniper goggles in his pack to keep the frost off of them. Baird took out a torn bed sheet and wrapped it around his neck, using it as a scarf.

The three noticed that Raven had some additional attire as well, including a velvet scarf, wrapped around her head and neck, with the long fringes hanging down her back. She also had some tied pieces of cloth around her upper thighs, above her holsters, and around her chest. As they continue to move forward, they notice a fowl stench mixed with the familiar stench of wretches, as they pass by their burnt corpses, apparently slaughtered by Raven, earlier that morning.

“Geez, that reeks,” Sven groans as he covers his nose.

“Yea…those wretches are pretty nasty, but this smells worse” Cole commented as they carefully walk around the corpses, trying not to get any smelly bowls on their boots.

“Ah, crap, Feral…you used your napalm grenades, didn’t you,” Baird complained with his hand over his mouth and nose, “…so that’s what that noise was, shit!”

“You heard that?”

“Uh, yea…those nades make loud noises, especially in a conduit. It’s the perfect conductor…shit, it fucking stinks! Did you have to use them?”

“Well, I couldn’t have well killed them all with just two pistols, now could I…so yes, I had to use the nades. They have a lot more splash damage for the job, but it did scare some away and apparently made their way back to you guys. I was trying to find them earlier but I couldn't see too well in here.”

“Ah, baby, it idn’t nuttin we couldn’t handle, right Baird,” said Cole, nudging Baird at the same time.

“Yea, whatever…” Baird groaned while he continued, “…ah, damn…this shit’s never coming out of my fatigues…look at this!”

Baird rants as he tries to brush off the entrails from the back of his legs and buttocks, which was splattered from their recent spat.

“Hey, Feral…come over here and help me get this off since your primarily responsible for this,” Baird gestures.

“What...I’m not going to touch your ass…get one of your men to help you,” Raven responds with an “as if,” expression.

“I’ll do it,” Sven volunteers.

“Touch me Vinny, and I’ll shoot you,” Baird warns as he attempts to brush his back, while walking at the same time.

“Don’t worry, baby…I’ll come and clean yo white ass,” Cole joins in as he approaches Baird and proceeds to wipe off the entrails.

“Hey…quite that!”

Baird shoos Cole off, while Cole backs off, laughing.

“Yea, laugh at this, asshole,” Baird sneers, as he gives Cole the middle finger.

“Oh, you know you love me, don’t deny it…you shoulda heard what he whispered in my ear last night,” Cole nudges Raven with his elbow, while he chuckles.

“Ok…that’s it,” Baird fumes as he turns around, but before he could do anything, Sven yells out, “Hey, is that light up ahead?”

All four turn their attention towards the conduit exit.

“What…wait…I think the kid’s right,” Cole admits while Baird turns right around peering out. He starts to rant some more,

“Holy shit…we are actually coming to the light at the end of the fucking tunnel! Imagine that!”

Baird quickly moves up to the front while Raven races behind him.

“Wait, Damon…not so fast.”

Baird slows down.

“What the hell for?”

“We don’t know what’s at the exit.”

“You just said you came from up there, and it was clear!”

“That was over two hours ago, Damon. Besides, what’s the hurry?”

“I’m tired of this conduit…it’s dark and fucking cold in here.”

“Well, it’s lit and fucking cold, out there.”

“At least it’s not dark!”

“So you’re scared of the dark?”

“No I’m not scared of the dark, and that’s not the fucking point,”

“So what is the point…that you’re just so, damn cranky in the morning, right?”

“I’m cranky all the time, haven’t you figured that out by now, der!”

“Oh, so I guess this is just all part of your charm,”

“Damn right, so quit jinxing it!”

As the two continue to bicker back and forth, Cole and Sven look on in amazement, wondering how the two have not yet managed to strangle one another. Cole starts to share his thoughts out loud,

“Heehee, if you didn’t know any better, you would thinks they was married,” Cole snickers as he nudges Sven, who is trying not to laugh, but starts to snicker anyway.

“I heard that, Cole!” Baird blasts, looking over his shoulder.

“Heard, what…what did he say,” Feral demanded while Cole and Baird respond in unison,

“Nothing!”

“Agh,” Raven miffs as she quickly storms forward, separating herself from the Gears as far as her short legs can take her.

“Thank God…she’s going away,” Baird snorts as he moves forward, trying to keep the distance Raven had already established between them.

As they get closer to the end of the corridor, their eyes begin flinch from the bright, winter light, reflecting from the ice and snow. They were walking on the snow that was blown in from the storm before they even got close to the exit.

“Damn…look at all this white shit,” Cole looks in amazement.

“Geez, how strong did the wind have to be to blow all this in here,” Sven ponders as they trudge through snow, getting deeper the closer they get to the exit.

“It’s clear…come on out,” Raven announced from the top of the snow hill just outside the exit.

“Shit, it’s getting deeper,” Baird gripes as he rotates his pelvis to pull his legs through the mess, bringing his knees up and over the hip, deep snow. Cole and Sven struggle to do the same, slowing their pace as they pull themselves through the white mess and finally out into the open, outside of the conduit on the other side of the mountain.

“Wow, look at that lake,” Sven points out while the others turn to look at the massive body of water as he continued,

“After what blew in last night, I bet it’s frozen solid.”

“It will have to if we intend to cross it,” says Baird while he sees Raven slowly coming towards them. She trudges through the snow, trying to regroup with them while talking at the same time.

“We will have to go around the lake,” she informs them.

“Now why did I have a feeling you were going to say that,” Baird moaned as he rubs his eyes, shielding them from the bright light. He then brings his goggles over his eyes.

“The Stranded settlement is somewhere on the other side, but it is too far into the day to go investigate without being seen.”

“So we going to check them out at night,” says Cole.

“Early morning, actually,” Raven turns to Cole.

“But why so late,” Cole asks.

“Well, the alcohol usually hits them about one in the morning…”

“And they will probably sleep in until hangover time, later that afternoon,” Baird jumps in while Raven finishes.

“Correct…they will most likely be coherent for the rest of the day until after nightfall,” she says.

“Do they have outposts nearby,” Baird asks, trying to map the area in his head while Raven responds,

“On the other side of the lake they do, the last time I checked. Therefore, if we go around, we can flank them undetected, unless they send out their scouts, but there’s a lot of cover in the woods that we can use to our advantage if we take the route I’m suggesting.”

Damon narrows his brow in suspicion as he looks at Raven. She finally gives in.

“Sigh…there’s also a secret supply stash between here and our destination, but again, we have to go around the lake.”

“Uh huh…just as I suspected,” Baird mutters as he adjusts his Lancer and shotgun, and starts to make his way towards the snow covered countryside ahead.

“Ok kiddies…through the mountain, around the lake, to grandmother’s house, we go…”

Intermission I
APC’s carrying additional recruits make their way into Fort Block to be stationed and reformed into new squads as the officers make arrangements to keep them on their toes, assigning them with a multitude of petty projects.

Anya watches from the comm. station, seeing all the fresh faces, overshadowing the veteran one’s, which are now dwindling next to nothing. She looks out while waiting to hear from Delta, whom was dropped a few hours after the first deployment of the Farrall Offensive and later picked up before the snowstorm came through. They were deployed the following morning to scan for the whereabouts of their lost squads. With six squads unaccounted for, one that is lost off the mark, only four made it to the drop zone, but even then, only three made it back to Fort Block. Out of five of the Feral that they had assigned to the squads, only three returned. Like so many missions before, the race to salvage what is left of Jacinto has left them with little to go by while their outposts are still being harassed, picking at their defenses by either the Locusts or the Stranded, they where not entirely sure who it was as of yet.

Although they found the Stranded settlements, by the time they got to them, they were already abandoned, as if they knew they were coming. Their Feral allies were able to regroup and guide the rest of the squads safely back to be picked up, but they lost one bird out of three on the way back. They took out a handful of Locust outposts along the way but there were many still unaccounted for. It didn’t take long to realize the mission was a near failure.

As Anya looks over her consol, she tries to enhance the satellite picture of the valley that was taken a month ago, but to no avail could she get an accurate reading of the land. What is wrong with the radar on this thing? She makes a rough diagram of Sigma’s last contact, the only contact she has received from any of the lost squads as the others remained mute. She rests her head on her hand, waiting in anticipation, hoping to hear something from someone when the radio suddenly began to sound off in between the static transmissions.

Anya reaches over the consol in anticipation,

“Hello, this is control, do you read?”

She alters the frequency to get a better signal as the static slowly began to fade and she could hear voices again.

“This is control, do you read?”

''“Roger that, control. This is Delta, come in.”''

“Oh, thank God, Affirmative Delta, I read you loud and clear,"

“We have searched through the wooded plain and we found a down Raven along the way…it has been completely destroyed but we were able to salvage part of a serial number,"

“Go ahead, Delta…”

"The partial number is XY78469…there’s more but it is not readable, can you get record on it,"

“Affirmative, Sergeant, I am searching the KR inventory now…”

Anya waits as she watches her terminal search through a laundry list of countless sequences of serial numbers of every single King Raven that was ever manufactured, even though only a few remain that are active. The computer finally isolated a class of King Raven’s, assigned by their assembly codes from a factory long desecrated from when the Locusts attacked their key manufacturing plants.

The list dwindled further into a handful of possible serial numbers, many of which were already destroyed prior before Operation Hollow. The computer screen came to a halt as it listed four possibilities of presently active Raven’s.

“Ok, Delta, I have four possibilities, but it may take a few minutes to narrow it down,”

“Understood, control,”

Anya started with the first, looking at it’s combat history and the pilots, co-pilots assigned to the bird throughout it’s career. She moved onto the next as she again, reviewed its records, searching for anything that may have any relation to Operation Farrall, and sure enough, KR-four, three.

“Ok Delta, I have found the King Raven in question…KR-43, and…oh God, Marcus…that’s Sigma’s bird.”

…Affirmative control…when was their last contact?

“Their last contact was shortly before the snowstorm, yesterday evening from Hurl Dam.”

''“Hurl Dam? But that’s off of the route to the drop zone, what the hell are they doing over at the dam?”''

“They probably had to find cover from the storm, and according to Corporal Baird, they have reason to suspect that there was a Stranded settlement near the glacier lake up north.”

“So it’s possible that we deployed our men the wrong way.”

“It is the pending theory, Sergeant.”

“Shit…Understood…have you received any contact from Sigma since then?”

“Negative Sergeant…Baird mentioned that he couldn’t contact the other squads…there have been reports that the radios are not functioning properly, they may still be having communication problems.”

“Understood control, so where do we go from here?”

“Report back to Fort Block, we may have some updates on the schematics, according to the Feral scout team.” “The Feral?”

“Affirmative Sergeant…we have accumulated some more Feral that have been displaced recently, and three of them speak fluent Tyran. They have claim to have some updates on the locations of the insurgencies.”

“Roger that control…we’re in route now.”

Chapter 12: Just Another Day in Paradise
We all have something that digs at us,

At least we dig each other

So when weakness turns my ego up

I know you'll count on the me from yesterday

If I turn into another

Dig me up from under what is covering

The better part of me

Incubus

Dig

The storm left behind a winter wonderland as the terrain was glistening in white, filling the air of its sweet winter aroma. It was as if the storm cleansed the sky, pushing away the stale air further towards the oceanfront, near Ferrall.

Baird’s pupils finally contracted to adjust to the bright light, as he lifts his goggles from his eyes to get a better look at the terrain. Ahead of him, he could see Cole and Sven making friendly conversation with their Feral guide, Raven, as they trek into the knee-deep snow, around a large glacier lake east of the rolling valley.

He scratches his head with a leaflet in hand, the one he managed to pocket in his armor when they we’re searching the Locusts back at the damn for ammunition. Reading the lettering, some of which he was able to decipher, the paper apparently was a “psalm” of sorts, chanting about “seducing,” or “charming” the beasts of the Hollow with song. Beyond that, Baird could only guess that it was some religious documentation, but why it was in the possession of a peon Bolter was what confused Baird the most. The meaning evaded him for the time being as he stopped for a moment to put it back in his leg pack and continues to relish on his thoughts as he follows behind the others.

This is the most at peace he has ever been in awhile, to have a moment to appreciate the beauty in nature without just catching small glances while running for his life. Although he does not drop his guard completely, as he continues to look around, he can finally breathe at ease for the moment, pondering their current situation. For the most part, Cole was right, Feral has been taking care of them, which kind of comes to a surprise since she has long insinuated that she prefers isolation, rather than “hanging” out with anybody, much less a handful of male twats. ''Why hasn’t she left us? She could have abandoned us easily, leaving us to rot in this shit.'' Although he had his theories, the answer continued to elude him. Baird shakes the thought out of his head as he starts to eavesdrop on the others’ conversation, listening to Sven ramble on about his experiences in highschool that most guys usually had to go through to enter the ultimate right of passage, otherwise better known as puberty.

“Anyway…I knew this one girl, back in highschool,” Sven begins his story before Cole interrupts.

“Hehe, you knew girls in highschool?”

Baird laughs to himself.

Oh geez, they’re talking about girls.

Sven tried to continue as if he didn’t catch on to Cole’s gag. Actually, it probably really did go over his head, but nevertheless, Baird could tell Raven was trying to be polite while Sven rambled on.

“Yea, and this chick was hot too! I mean, she was skimpin in this one outfit…I could tell she wasn’t wearing much underneath…”

Raven interrupts,

“Uh, ok, you’re going to have to define “hot,” for me,” Raven suggests as her remark caught Sven completely off guard.

“Well…uh…gee, I guess I would have to say…ah, crap…what was I going to say?”

Good one Vinny, that was smooth, Baird says to himself.

Cole starts to laugh.

“Here…let me help you out, Vin,” Cole cuts in while Baird moans.

Oh, God, here it comes. “What he means is the kinda chick that can make a man stand up straight by just walking by, you know,”

Raven just glared at him, trying to figure out where Cole was going with this. Baird could tell she wasn’t the least bit impressed, but she attempted to be polite by letting Cole ramble on.

“Don’t get me wrong, most chicks are not bad looking, and then there are others that are “hot,” the kind that made you sweat from just looking at em!”

“Uh huh,” Raven acknowledged, not making any attempt to see from his point of view. How could she? She wasn’t a guy, so how does she know what the hell makes a guy “sweat” in the presence of a “hot” girl?

“I mean the one’s that have, nice, juicy, taataa’s, those sour, pout lips, and the kind of ass that you just want to go, uh!”

Cole tries to imitate his gesture by holding his massive hands in front of him as if he was going to grab something. Raven rolls her eyes as she quickly realizes that this was going nowhere.

“You know…ok, I take it back…we need stop and move onto something else,” she says.

Baird jumps into the conversation from behind.

“Yea, Cole’s getting a hard on just talking about it,” Baird chuckles while Cole turns around,

“Hey, since when did you decide to contribute to the conversation?”

The other two were surprised by Baird’s entrance since he was pretty much to himself for almost an hour.

“The minute somebody brought up the topic about “chicks.”

“Shit, Damon, what do you know about chicks…in fact, when was the last time you had a G.F.?”

“Well gee, Cole, since I spend most of my time, getting shot at, running around in Locust fortresses, crawling around inside giant worms, oh, and almost the entire time, I’m spending doing all this, saving your ass! So needless to say, it’s been awhile!”

“Yea, whatever! You haven’t had any boon since…damn…it has been awhile!”

“Shut up Cole, you haven’t been getting any either!”

Cole was about to respond but then he realized that Baird was right. Neither one of them had any romantic, social dealings with the female type in probably longer than they would really want to admit. It was, for the most part, against policy to fraternize with female officers, not to mention most all other females where relocated to “breeding camps,” which made such social interaction limited.

This brought Baird to question as to how the Feral reproduced. He had heard of stories of Gears coming across Feral camps, but they usually ended in a catastrophe. He has only heard of one incident where a soldier was coerced to impregnate a “breeder,” and live to tell about it. “So…what about you Feral,” says Cole, trying to keep the conversation going to pass the time.

“About…what,” she replied.

“Ya know…got a man somewhere that we don’t know about?”

“Hey yea, you go out and get some?” Sven tinkered with the thought. Perv!

Raven chuckles in amusement.

“Are you kidding, please, the Feral are very strict about keeping our animal drives in check and breeding outside of the matriarch’s counsel…besides, you Gears are pretty clueless concerning the female psyche…no offense.”

“Wait…counsel…is that what you chicks “call” it,” Baird looks up in curiosity.

“Every Feral has a set of guidelines that she is required to follow concerning her advances. To deviate from those guidelines would end up in excommunication, or sometimes termination,” said Raven.

“Gee Feral…you run away to avoid being “bred” like a horse, only to end up with a faction that dictates your sex life, or else! I’m having a hard time seeing the difference here…and you’re calling us clueless?”

Baird continued to pick at her brain, gathering mental notes on how the Feral functioned as a culture, since most of the COG’s intel on the Feral was modest at best, but doing it without offending her at the same time was not something he did very well. Raven continued,

“The “breeding camps” were exploiting the women for purposes other than just “breeding,” Baird. The COG new damn well that some of the facilities was being run by pedophiles, and yet they didn’t do anything about until it was too late. We knew about it because some of those girls managed to run away, and the Feral picked them up.”

The conversation took a turn that only Baird could entertain, trying to get in the last word,

“Look, I’m not saying that nothing unethical was going on, but your accusing the COG of running people’s lives without merit, while the Feral are practically doing the same exact thing. Your being kinda hypocritical, Raven!”

“There’s a difference in deciding something for the better welfare of the community, and then there is just plain, jane, dictatorship.”

“Oh, and how’s that?”

“Do you really think Chairman Prescott is in all of this for the sake of “saving humanity?”

“What do think he’s doing it for?”

“Well what do men of power always want…more power, and how can he help it? He was born into power, his family, the Prescott “dynasty.” What else can he be…he pretends to participate as a soldier to boost up his ranks and then wiggled his way into politics effortlessly, all the while, using the policies of his predecessors during the Pendulum Wars to wipe out settlements, confiscate weapons of mass destruction and obliterate almost all of what was left of Sera’s resources, I mean seriously, do I need to go on?”

“It’s amazing what people have to do when their back is up against the wall, Feral, especially when we got a race of “beings,” whose only intent is to wipe us clean off the planet! Like any other leader, he had to make difficult decisions…it’s not like he had a lot of other convenient choices.”

“Do you really believe that, Damon? I find it hard to believe that you, a frequent delinquent, accept things at face value, especially someone with a countless history of insubordination for pissing off authority figures!”

Well that caught Baird off guard. Even Cole and Sven turned to her in shock. She continued, perched on her high horse.

“Yes, gentlemen…I know about your personnel profiles…I reviewed them before we left. Don’t think I was going to jump into something without doing my homework. And as far as the COG are concerned, I was raised, reciting the “Octus Canon,” every damn morning before school started. My “dad” would take me to his base to show me how the Gears work, like taking your kids to work day and would attempt to orient me into the regime. So to answer the question that I know has been lingering in the back of your head, Baird, no, I’m not just some dumb cunt who so happens to have some “beef” with the COG.”

“Well shit, Feral, excuse me for being clueless that you didn’t have any personal issues regarding the COG.”

“I don’t!”

“Uh huh…so seriously, who are you banging?”

“What the hell kind of question was that?”

“I don’t know, ask Cole, he’s the one who wanted to know,” Baird grins while Cole was trying to catch up from the previous topic to the next.

“Oh, sorry Gus, we’re talking about sex now” Baird starts to snicker while Cole gives him a dirty look.

“Yea, very funny, jackass!”

“Cmon, I’m just sticking out for ya…so anyway, Feral, what is your “present” breeding status?”

“What breeding status?”

“Are you single, or do you have someone you see regularly, are you still a virgin,…”

“Are we seriously having this discussion right now?”

“Uh…yea!”

Cole and Sven just glare in interest, waiting to see what she says next.

“Alright, Damon, I’m not going to give you the satisfaction of answering that question for the sake of your own personal amusement.”

“So you are a virgin.”

“Does it really matter if I am or not?”

“Not really, I’m just trying to get a rise out of ya.”

“Cole’s right, you are a jackass!”

“Hehe, told ya, baby! Hey, Vinny…you owe me ten bucks!” says Cole while Baird sneers back.

“Oh, so you can hack into our computer network and somehow access our personnel files, which is classified, by the way, and now suddenly you take offense when we ask you about your love life, bullshit!”

Raven starts to snicker at Damon’s defiance.

“Well, that sounds more like a personal problem, Baird.”

“Damn right, especially when I’m taking some flak from someone who’s never had any cock!”

Well that did it.

“Alright, that’s it! This conversation’s over.” Raven storms off, putting distance between them as fast as she can, moving in knee, deep snow. The three watch as she huffs away, cussing under her breath.

“Damnit Baird, I thought Marcus told you not to piss her off,” Cole starts to rant at Baird, reminding him, again about the mission at hand.

But it’s too much fun!

“We seriously need to work on your “talking to girls,” skills,” Cole continues to rant, realizing Baird just ruined their chance to maybe somewhat bond.

“Geez yea…we were trying to get her to open up, ya know,” Sven butts in.

“We’re not here to pick up chicks, guys,” Baird reminds them without any regret.

Sven groans, thinking back when he had some rather sweet interactions with girls, wondering if he will ever have the opportunity to do it again. “This bites…will we ever get back to normal…you know, when we could pick up chicks?”

“Sigh…maybe one day kid, we just got to keep our head in the game for now,” Cole mutters, thinking back in the day when he had women, jumping through fire hoops, just to say “hi” to him. But it’s been fifteen years they have been fighting the Locusts, how much more longer will it be before they can even say things will be back to normal?

Damon kept to himself as he trudged on, trying not to let Raven get too far ahead, or she’ll abandon them for sure. Memories of his past, begin to subconsciously, surface as he revisited his own “social” experience with women, which, needless to say was few in between. When he did, it was anything but positive which may have contributed to his “cynical” attitude, especially when it concerned girls. Although he is most likely capable of producing offspring, he avoids settling down as if it was the plague. To say the least, he was content living the rest of his existence as a “childless” bachelor.

As he watches ahead, Raven continues to storm through the snow, wondering how long she’s going to hold a grudge now. Considering he’s been harassing her consciousness since touchdown, she seems to be tolerating Baird, especially since most people would normally, take an instant dislike to him. But then again, maybe it’s because she’s stuck with him and she has to tolerate him. Or maybe she’s just saving her “rants,” and all of her frustrations to shove down his throat all at once, for later. Oh that’s going to be fun!

He then realized something Dom told him once, and that was few in between, about how he dealt with Maria when she got mad at him for whatever reason and she wouldn’t talk to him for days. Although Damon was never one to take any advice from Dom, however he did agreed that no man knows, no wrath, more loathing than a woman scorned. So something is going to have to give, before wrath bites Sigma squad in the ass.

''Shit. I’m going to have to kiss her ass, or kiss and make up, hmm…what would be the lesser of the two evils?'' In any case, he knew if he didn’t somehow reconcile, he would never hear the end of it from Marcus, or Hoffmann for that matter, and then Dom will rub it in his face. Fucktard.

“Sigh…wait back here guys…I’m going to have to go and patch this,” Baird loathes as he picks up the pace, while Cole yells out,

“Hey…if you kiss and make up, I want details…remember…bros before hos!” Cole and Sven start to snicker as Baird waves his hand with his back still facing them.

“You think he’s really going to do it,” Sven ponders.

“Shit, knowing Baird…I bet you another ten bucks she’ll punch him in the face before he even thinks of laying a smooch on her,” Cole snickers.

“You’re on!”

The two clamp fists, knuckle to knuckle as they turn to look ahead, watching Baird climb up through the deep snow.

Baird tries to catch up as Raven keeps her pace steady, not realizing that he was trying to close in their distance. Shit, does this chick ever get tired of hiking?

He manages to get into audio range as he calls out.

“Feral…hey…wait!”

“What for? I thought I told you…”

“Yea, yea, yea, I heard you the first time.”

Feral then stops in her pace to allow Baird to catch up, noticing the other two where still pretty far behind.

“Oh, I see you left your “motley crew” in the ditch…where they boring you with useless “guy stuff?”

Baird flashes a sarcastic grin and then slumps back to his usual facial demeanor.

“No, that’s not why I sprinted all the way up here.”

“I’ll say, you sure keep up better than Cole. He really needs to do more steady cardio and less weights.”

“I know…I think his thrashball training has him brainwashed.”

Feral let’s out a chuckle as she continues to walk forward along with Baird.

“Ok, so are you still pissed at me,” he asks.

“Maybe.”

“I suppose that’s an honest answer…look, ok, I know I said something…”

Here it goes,

“…that was insensitive…”

“Wait, are you actually apologizing…do I need to record this?”

“C’mon, gimme a break,”

“You, don’t apologize to anyone, much less a bitchy Feral…ok, what are you really trying to do?”

“Seriously, are you going to let me finish?”

“Relax, Baird…I’m not going to abandon the team, or drop y’all like a hat and leave y’all to fend for yourselves…”

“And why wouldn’t you?”

“What do mean, why wouldn’t I?”

“Well, all we ever seem to do is to slow you down and piss you off,”

“Cole doesn’t piss me off, Vinny normally doesn’t piss me off,

“All right, all right, I get it, it’s all me,”

“No, that’s not it either.”

“Then what is it…why do you stick around?”

“The same reason I agreed to come to the COG in the first place.”

“And what’s that?”

“It doesn’t matter right now, what does matter is that I take you guys safely around the terrain to the Stranded rebel camps until the mission is complete.”

“Well, as you noticed, we strayed off that course a long time ago,” Baird groaned, trying to make sense of things that he really couldn’t confirm and that annoyed him. But at least he lives to still bitch about it.

“So, you’re really not going to abandon us, huh?”

“Just you.”

“Oh…alright…at least we cleared that up.”

Raven gives him a sarcastic look and then starts to laugh.

“Oh c’mon, I was just joking, at you’re expense of course, but still…you do really need to lighten up, Damon.”

“Yea…I get that a lot on my psych evaluation that I am required to attend, once a year…that and piss in a cup.”

Raven laughs at Baird’s gesture as he talks. She continues the conversation.

“I know they did health check ups, but psych evaluations…that must be new.”

“They started it almost ten years ago.”

“Well then I guess you must be ok…they haven’t declared you insane.”

“Nope…at least, not yet.”

“So what else do they violate you with?”

“The usual…they put a queue tip up the shaft to check for urinal infections, STD’s, anal probes,”

“Geez, Damon, seriously?”

“Well, when the time is right, I guess, they want to make sure our plumbing is working properly, and safely. There’s no point in the use if we’re shooting, infected blanks.”

“They check your sperm count, too? I mean…what for if you guys don’t find the time to…well…procreate, especially when they have regulations on fraternization?”

“Well that’s funny because I was going to ask you the same.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t understand why your…superiors…have to dictate your sex life to produce offspring…I mean, why not just go out, find some sucker, woo him to get you knocked up and then leave his sorry ass, return to your “camp” and live happily ever after with your little brat?”

“Ok, I’m not exactly sure what they taught you back in highschool, or, what your personal experience is, concerning the concept, but there is both a philosophy and science to human reproduction.”

“Uh…are…are you for real…because I never would have put sex in the same bracket as quantum physics.”

Raven gives him a sour look while Baird catches on to her expression.

“Sigh…go on…” he let’s her continue,

“Look…and this is assuming you have performed coitus before,”

“Yes, I have, moving along…”

“Every woman has a season where she is more “fertile,” than others, during the cycle.”

“Cycle…as in every twenty eight days?”

“Well, that, and once every year…out of four seasons, or quarters.”

“And you either fall into one of those four categories, during the year and month,”

“Precisely…depending on the time of her birth, will dictate her biological clock, in reference to the seasonal terrestrial clock, Bloom, Brume, Thaw, or Frost.”

“I thought women can get pregnant all year round?”

“Most normally can, it’s just that during their estrus is when they are, I guess, much more susceptible to conception.”

“Ok…so, what terms do you use for the monthly cycle?”

“We use Sera’s elements…water, fire, soil, and air, to label the phase of the month”

“Have you ever, “witnessed,” the results of this so called rhythm method?”

“As a matter of fact, I have. The Feral have successfully managed to assist women, who have been labeled barren, to producing, healthy offspring.”

“Really?”

“I know what you’re thinking, but as I have mentioned to you before,”

“Yea, yea, not one girl is going to be the same as another,”

“And on top of all this, some females are much more sensitive to their timing, while others are not. For some reason, they do not have the ability to breed all year round, therefore, if they do not mate within that brief time frame, any other attempt will be unsuccessful. I have reason to believe that the “breeding farms” dismissed some women as infertile, when, in fact, they have a capable system, its just finicky. Now, why that is, I am not entirely sure…that information was not oriented to me at the time of my own evaluation.”

“Wait, you’ve been briefed on your “custom” fertility rate?”

“All of us have. We have all been cultured, and trained to be productive. It’s just that the “breeders,” have been conditioned extensively to seduce and mate, while say, my training, has been basic. They have found me to be…of more value elsewhere.”

“Should I even ask, as to how, they…demonstrate, or…um…”

“Do you really want to hear this?”

“Sigh, not really,”

“Besides, I told Cole and Sven about it…I’m sure you’ll hear it from them.”

“You what?! Shit, Feral, now I’m never going to hear the end of this!”

“Your welcome!”

“I can’t believe you’ve been telling them how to…”

“Give it rest, Damon…besides, the only things I told them are probably stuff they already had some knowledge on from reading the material on the bathroom walls.”

“Uh huh…so scouting and hacking is more up your ally than…uh…ah, hell, I’ll just say it, fucking.”

“I …don’t know…”

“And you’re…ok with that?”

“…Not really…”

Raven looks away as she, subconsciously meditates to herself while the mood turns awkward for both of them. Baird was carefully putting the pieces together from what Raven has since revealed to him and the puzzle quickly became a riddle, begging to be solved. His boredom turned into fascination as he decided to press on at plucking at the layers surrounding her psyche, trying to gather as much information about the Feral that she is willing to reveal. Something productive better come out of this since I had to be the one to fucking apologize!

“Um…so…which season are you?”

Raven looks up in astonishment but her expression subsides when she realized he wasn’t being derisive. Believing he may have hit a sore spot, Baird tries to change the mood,

“Look, you don’t have to answer if you don’t feel comfortable…”

“Frost…and…fire.” She blurts out without missing a beat as she catches him in mid sentence. He pauses for a moment as he looked at her with a perplexed expression, on the brink having to ask the question that is smoldering in the back of his mind.

“You mean to tell me…that you are presently… in your more fertile time of your clock?”

“In the year…the Frost is my fertile season…but not in month.”

“Should I even ask when that is going to hit?”

“No…you probably shouldn’t.”

“Ah, crap…ok, I’m going to ask this anyway, for the sake of everyone’s sanity…I mean just in case you …go off your rocker,”

“Oh, for peat sake, Baird, I’m not going to go on a rampage.”

“Like hell you’re not…you’re going to be “in heat” Raven! That’s enough to drive any guy nuts, much less three.”

“Then, maybe, it would be best that you don’t know!”

Baird groans as he shuts his trap before it gets him into trouble again, and then it finally dawns on him,

“Hey, are we there yet?”

“Almost.”

“Define almost.”

“Well, you see that forest over there, between the lake and that mountain?”

Raven points in the direction as Baird turns to get a look.

“Yea…is that…where the settlement is?”

“No…I told you, there’s a place where we keep armaments and supplies, not terribly far from the settlement location.”

“Sigh…how far from our destination?”

“About three miles.”

“Ugh…that means we have to hike some more.”

“There is a place we can go to for shelter…and food.”

“Where’s that?”

“In the woods…concealed.”

“For real?!”

Baird beamed in interest. The idea of warmth and food sounded even more, sweet to his ears.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself Baird…we still need to investigate the area over there.”

Raven points to a section of the forest that is lingering out in the valley not too far ahead.

“Alright, now why do we…wait a minute,” Baird suddenly halts as he looks back to look past Cole and Sven, whom were still somewhat behind, but catching up. He looked further down, evaluating their trail in the snow as the breeze slips past them, brushing along their heads. His internal instincts begin to creep onto his conscience that only familiar soldiers can comprehend.

“We’re being tracked, aren’t we,” he says after he hesitated.

“Inevitably...yes,” Raven responds.

“Fuck…and we left them a nice trail for them to follow.”

“Which is why I suggested going the other direction.”

Baird lifts his arms and yells out,

“Guys…get up here, hurry!”

Cole and Sven pick up the pace as they push through the snow.

“Agh…it’s like walking in that pool of plastic balls they had at Wonderworld,” Sven recants his childhood memories, when his older sister would throw him in the pool of balls, and then she would jump in to help him stabilize in the awkward environment.

“Oh, yea…I remember that place,” Cole thinks back memory lane when his mom took him there for his sixth birthday. He was excited because he was actually tall enough to ride some of the bigger rides.

“Will ya hurry up,” Baird blasts out, impatiently.

“We’re moving as fast we can, Baird,” Cole blasts back, trying to pick his feet up higher, over the snow.

The two finally catch up, panting as they finally come to a stop, and take a breather. The wind begins to pick up, lifting snow from the top layer, brushing it against their legs.

“Ah, c’mon…another storm,” Sven gripes as Raven steps down from a hill to rejoin them.

“We need to go into the forest…I saw something in there as I was scanning it,” she says.

Cole turned to Raven, while still panting.

“Like…what?”

“I’m not sure, but either way, the wind is getting stronger and the forest may be our only means of protection right now,” says Raven as she turns to point.

“And how’s that?”

Baird turns to Cole and Sven.

“We may have someone tracking us.”

“Oh…oh, you got to be shittin me,” Cole blurts out.

“The wind can cover some of our trail that we left out here and those woods will conceal us from here on out, but we got to move, now!” Baird settled it as he turns and starts his way towards the forest.

“C’mon Cole…Sven,” Raven recants as she helps Sven on his feet, moving him forward as Cole follows close behind the two.

As they move, the overcast sky starts to take a turn as snow begins to fall, sprinkling the air as the breeze brushes the flakes across the valley, hiding their tracks.

Chapter 13: The Hunters
The air thickens with snow as the wind pushes through the terrain, over the lake and mountains. The woods acted as a shield while Sigma squad, moves around the trees to an open area in the forest.

Raven is perched on a fallen tree as she points at an area that looked like it was recently demolished, with trees knocked down and brush torn to shreds. It was obvious that something came through it lately.

“Look…see it,” Raven gestures.

The others peer through the trees to see what appears to be, bare corpses, lying in the snow out in the open area.

“Sigh…we’re going to have to check this out,” Baird laments, wondering if the bodies may be that of other displaced squads. The three move carefully, into the area, as the snowflakes begin to accumulate on their armor.

“Damn Feral, how did you know this was here,” Cole asked.

“I noticed some of the trees from the distance were broken down…” Raven explained, “…and they weren’t like that a few weeks ago, so something had to have happened here…I originally thought it may have been another fallen Raven.”

“Well, the direction of the fallen trees doesn’t suggest a crash site...” Baird observed.

Raven hops down to join them while Cole and Baird move forward to get a closer look at the bodies. They were strewn about, half of them faced down as their skin was almost as pale as the snow around them, making the blue veins even more noticeable. Raven looks around as she proceeds to join them, with Sven not far behind.

Baird kneels down to brush the falling snow from one, almost, naked body that is facing down. He presses his hand against the bare back, searching for contusions and then grabs the stiff arm.

“Ugh…it’s hard to know how long he’s been in rigor, the cold accelerates the process,” Baird groans, realizing that the weather was going to make it harder for them to calculate how long they have been deceased.

“Then that means we don’t know how long they been dead,” Cole mutters as he looks around at the others, scattered in the vicinity.

“Well, they couldn’t have been here no longer than early this morning, otherwise they would have been buried by the storm last night,” Raven notices as she begins to investigate the torn shrubs on the outskirts of the area.

“Hey Cole…help me lift this one, willya,” Baird asks.

“You got it, baby!”

They gently lift the solid corpse as they turn it over, finally realizing who he was.

“Ah, damn…” Cole moans while Baird drops his head in dismay.

“Who is it,” Raven asks as she reunites with them.

“He’s one of ours,” Baird grumbles while Raven steps around the two to take a closer look. The body for the most part was intact with the exception of a bullet entrance to the skull, fracturing the bones around it. Almost all his attire with the exception of his underwear was gone.

“He’s been stripped…they all have…which means the Stranded probably got here before we did,” said Raven.

“Say, what,” Cole bellows in resentment.

“They have been accumulating armor and weapons for some time now. I have seen them out on patrol on horseback, stripping armaments, but I can’t tell you if they were responsible for their deaths,” said Raven.

Baird lifted his head as he spoke.

“Maybe so, but I doubt the Locusts did this either.”

“How can you tell,” Raven asks.

“Because they’re, for the most part, intact...that, and Locusts don't take the armor.”

Sven walks around, getting an eyeful of a bizarre situation, one he has never seen before. The climate around him felt psychologically cold, as if the place itself had a mind of it’s own. If only the trees could talk.

“So which squad are they,” Sven asks.

“It’s Gamma Four…I recognize the name on these tags,” Baird responds.

“Ah, shit...man…that means Harley’s with em,” Cole mutters as he steps around to take a look at the other corpses.

“Who’s Harley,” says Sven.

“Sergeant Brell Harley, is Gamma’s squad leader,” Baird answers as he gets up to help Cole look for the Sergeant’s body. Sven joins in, helping Baird brush the oncoming snow on another corpse nearby.

“Guys, try not to move them too much. If we disturb the bodies, someone will know for sure that we came through here.” Raven reminded them. “And don’t remove the tags,” Baird jumped in.

“How are we suppose to report them back to headquarters,” Cole complains.

“I’ll write their names down…but Raven’s right. If we’re being tracked, they’ll know for sure that we came through here if we tamper with them too much.”

“Do you think the Stranded are the one’s tracking us,” Sven wonders.

“I’m not sure, but Stranded scouts have been known to come near this area, especially at this time of day.” Raven responds as she looks up to peer outside the forest.

The three Gears continue to look and take names, but could not find Gamma’s squad leader among them. The snow began to lightly collect on the corpses, while Sven brushes off the snow accumulating on his shoulder plates.

Silent and surreal it all was, as if the place they were standing on was subtly screaming at them to look deep into their eyes, and listen to their tale. Everything about this place was off.

Raven turns back onto the edge of the wooded area to get a better look out in the empty, white valley.

“Did Sgt. Harley survive, maybe,” says Sven.

“With his squad all strewn out like this and leaving the tags, not likely…man, this makes no sense,” Cole stands up to brush the snow off of his armor.

“Geez, if they were shot down here, then where did their attackers go, I don’t see any trails,” Sven notices, looking around.

Baird sits still, kneeling down as he drifts into thought, while the other two turn to look at him. They could tell he was in deep thought, deciphering the code written all over the area.

“Uh oh…Baird’s thinking…that can’t be good,” Cole notices.

Baird suddenly stands back up as he writes down the last name in his journal, and then puts his journal back into his pack.

“I bet you ten bucks these guys were dumped here. They must have died elsewhere, and for whatever reason, they were relocated and dumped here,” “How you figure that,” Cole looks in curiosity.

“Look around, Gus…there’s no blood on the ground…they have been stripped…and as Vinny pointed out, there’s no tracks suggesting a firefight, much less someone stripping them down of all their armor. It would be logical to assume that they where shot down and disrobed elsewhere, then carefully dumped here while the snow must have covered their tracks, which means they had to have been here at least since sometime early this morning to give time for the snow to accumulate.”

Before Baird could finish his sentence, Raven moves back into the area as she cuts in,

“…and this area was demolished by some heavy artillery, I suspect by grinders, maybe a troika. If they we’re killed here, they would not have been intact, as Baird mentioned earlier…besides, their bullet wounds suggest smaller rounds.” Raven continues as she drops some marred twigs, she found hanging from the brush, twisted into pieces. The bark on the surrounding trees, were also stripped, all on one side. Raven then climbed back into the wooded area to look outside.

“Smaller rounds, as in…” Sven said while Baird finished,

“Lancer rounds…or Hammerburst, maybe even a pistol, but she’s right, the wounds indicate rapid fire but not the size from a Troika or Mulcher.”

“So you think this was set up,” Cole started to put the pieces together as he sees Baird nod.

“It’s a possibility, and I believe the Stranded may be involved,” says Baird.

“So what’s up with the fallen trees if they were taken out elsewhere,” Cole asks, trying to make sense of the scene.

“I’m guessing that they intentionally shot all this down to make it look like a fire fight…and then dumped the corpses here.”

“Well then we need to go over there and take them out before they ambush any more squads.”

“That’s not our directive, Cole…and on top of that, who knows what arms they have amassed in the past few months. Shit, we know now they have at least four Lancers, some Gnashers, maybe a Longshot,” Baird says.

Cole thought for a moment and then he responded, “The Stranded are not that strategic…and even if it was the Stranded, why would they go through all this trouble just to set this up?”

“Maybe their hunting down the other squads for more ammunitions, I don’t know for sure Gus, I’m just speculating.”

“We can’t let this go, man…command needs to know about this, if what you say is right.”

“We’re not going to let this go, Gus…but we need to get to the side of that mountain and wait until early morning.”

Raven moves back to their position.

“And we need to do it real soon guys…I just saw some Stranded on horseback in the distance, and I think they're coming this way,” Raven announced as she joined them from looking out the woods.

“Well shit…that sure raises some red flags now, don’t it,” Baird griped. “No kiddin,” Cole agreed.

“We got to take them out, if they did this, they’ll kill us for sure and take our stuff,” says Sven.

“No…if we take them out, they can’t report back to the settlement, and then they’ll definitely know your position,” says Raven as she turns to point in another direction.

“Go this way…the thicket is too thick for the horses to follow effectively, and it will cover your trail. It will lead to the side of the mountain.”

“But what about the mess we made here, Feral…they’re going to figure out for sure that these bodies were tampered,” says Baird.

“I can take care of it, I’ve done this countless times before…you just take Sven, Cole and go…hurry!”

“Feral, are you sure? ”

“Look, Baird, you’re just going to have to trust me on this, have I let you down yet?”

“For all I know, you could be just buying your time,”

“Sigh…well then Corporal, I guess you’re just going to have to make a difficult decision now, aren’t you.”

Baird gave Raven a suspicious look, realizing that she just turned his words against him from their previous argument. But what choice did they have? If they stayed and fought the Stranded off, which wouldn’t be much of a fight, but whoever sent them will know for sure their most recent position, and that was the last thing they wanted to do, especially if any of the other squads fell into the same trap.

Raven gets impatient,

“We’re running out of time, just…I’ll meet you on the side of the mountain later, I promise…Cole you heard me, right?”

“Yea, I heard ya baby…c’mon, Damon…we’ll worry about all dis later,” Cole insists. Baird growls for a moment to himself as he pulls out his Gnasher and starts to move towards the thicket ahead.

“Let’s move,” Baird says while Cole follows behind, gesturing to Sven,

“C’mon, Vinny…we need to go!”

“Alright…comin!”

The three Gears begin to make their way into the woods, trying to keep their trail concealed as much as they can, hoping the falling snow will help cover their tracks.

Raven quickly pulls off a shallow branch from one of the conifer trees, using the bristles on the branch to level the snow around the area and around the bodies, hoping the snow will accumulate on top of them. Brushing the footprints left by her comrades, she dusts some of the snow from the branches of the trees back onto the bodies as she scatters foliage around some makeshift, possum tracks. She climbs back up on a fallen tree, walking on it towards the wooded area and climbs into a shrub as she pulls out her Gorgon pistol, checking to see if it’s loaded. Raven has done this, numerous times, almost as if she has the Stranded down to a science since she has observed their behaviors for awhile and found they seldom change. They are simple people, not soldiers like the Gears, or malicious monsters, like the Locusts. It’s few in between that she has come across a Stranded that went beyond just trying to survive, but this circumstance was different. If Baird was right, then this settlement may be a force to reckon with, it would be a deadly combination of both the Locusts and Gears. This rebellion is tactful, and that can be dangerous for both the Feral and the Gears.

She sits and waits patiently for the horseback riders to make their way into the area. Then, she’ll know for sure if it was them whom set all this up. Pretty clever, for a Stranded…Cole was right, it’s not like them to take the time to be this tactical. Raven has seen Stranded ransack Gear equipment, rummaging in collapsed Centaurs, or fallen Ravens, but they normally just take only what they can carry, like ammo, medical supplies, and radio equipment. Only lately, has she witnessed groups of them stripping a down Raven, almost to the bone, taking the armor plates and even the console. For what purpose, however, is yet to be seen.

In the distance, she can hear the horses snorting, clopping through the snow. The beasts we’re huge, weighing at least a ton while massing in some articulate armor and headdresses. They had a generous amount of feathering on their wide feet, while their manes where cropped and hair scruffy. They adapted well in the bitter cold. She can see five of them, lingering outside the woods, peering in, as two of the Stranded begin to dismount.

''This is definitely a scouting team. They are way too organized just to be a handful of vagabonds simply passing through.''

She could see clearly that some of them were armed with Lancers. One of them, still on horseback, actually had Gear armor, scratched and gray, but functional armor nevertheless. It almost resembles the recon armor, but not the latest manufactured all-purpose, blue armor that she has been seeing more often among the Gears.

The two men walk slowly and carefully into the woods, scanning the area. What they were scanning for is the more appropriate question. Are they looking for Locusts, or are they looking for Gears? And then it suddenly dawned on her; they have been listening to our radio transmissions…damnit…why didn’t I figure this earlier? Did Baird ever consider their transmissions to be jeopardized? Well it’s too late now…if, and when, I get out of this, that is the first thing I am going to have to address.

One of the men began to enter the open area, while the other followed shortly, behind. The first one was rather tall and slender, not near as bulky as a trained Gear. This was the common physical appearance of the Stranded, especially when there is a shortage of food. Most of these guys would go for days without eating, spreading out their meals so they would not run out too quickly, they had no other choice.

He wore the typical garb, of mostly ragged, layers of garments to protect them from the cold since most of them had little body fat. He carried a shotgun in his hands as he looked around the area, searching for something that apparently was eluding him. As he started to relax, he stood up straight and swung the shotgun strap on his shoulder.

The other man, however, was almost the opposite. He was bigger, not near as big as Cole, but roughly the size of someone between Cole and Baird. He was not a typical scrawny Stranded. He moved into the area, cautiously as he carefully scanned the vicinity, even though his partner had already done it for him. This one is a professional!

He wore a heavy pea coat that hung below his pelvis, while wearing Gear boots and leg fatigues, with a Lancer strapped under his arm. His movements were similar to that of Cole and Baird, precautious yet authoritative, maybe arrogant. ''Oh God…this guy is a Gear. There is no other explanation.''

His head was wrapped with a scarf, hooded over his head, leaving only the lower portion of his clean-shaved face to be somewhat visible. His brow was heavily shadowed, peering through the black scarf, draped over his forehead. He wasn’t walking around aimlessly like the other one was. He was definitely searching for something specific.

The other Stranded started to talk as he nearly stumbled over a body, mixed in the snow on the ground.

“I…I, don’t…see nothin,” the scrawny one jittered, as if he was literally in fear of the other. I didn’t blame him, the big one was very intimidating.

“Shut up and keep a look out…” the other barks, in a low, grinding voice. He kneels over to one of the corpses as he carefully brushes the snow off, glaring at it, as if he smelled something out of place. Shit…he’s going to figure this out.

Still glaring at the body, he mumbles,

“The tags are still here…”

“Well…maybe nobody came by after all, or maybe they did come, but were in a hurry.”

“It’s not like a Gear to leave the tags…unless they’ve caught on to us.”

“No way…how would they know that,” the scrawny one shivered in between words.

“Well, they managed to figure out our location…explain that one to me,” the big one barked, his glare turning to the other with a demeanor of suspicion.

The other Stranded didn’t dare respond. The icy glare from the big one was piercing through him, chaining the scrawny one to his side as he continued to lecture,

“We have the Jammer, that should have shielded us from the satellite…and those electromagnetic impulses should have taken out their communications, but some how some way, they know where we are!”

So that’s why the COG had difficulty finding them…and I bet that’s why Baird was having a hard time contacting command.

He continued to contemplate to himself, still staring at the body. He slowly stood up and proceeded to another. He bent down, again, brushing the snow off, as he tilts his head, staring at it.

A chill ran down Raven’s spine as he was much closer to her position, hovering over the corpse nearby, studying it without breaking his concentration as he picked his head up and slowly looked over his shoulder behind him, peering in her direction.

Even though she was well camouflaged in the brush and snow, Raven almost forgot to breathe, sitting perfectly still, nervously, as she could see his bright pale eyes while she peered through the thicket, trying not to even blink. He turned back around, staring back down at the corpse, with his brow looming over his blue eyes. She could tell he sensed something wasn’t right.

“This body was tampered with…” he said while the other Stranded turned around as if he was startled. The other man responded,

“Maybe an…animal messed with it.”

“Maybe,” the big one growled, scanning the area to look for any trails that may have been left behind. He shifted his head, as if he was finding a scent in the breeze that blew past them.

“Or, it could have been a Feral.”

Oh God…he knows about us.

The Feral seldom reveal their identity to anyone, at least not without purpose, or at least that’s how Raven understood it. Could the Stranded actually be responsible for the missing clans?

It was said that the Locusts ambushed and killed Raven’s clan, while she was out, doing her recon work. She came across two of her sisters whom said they found the clan, completely annihilated. With the Frost coming down on them, it was decided that in order to protect the other clans, an alliance to the COG had to be made. It has been imminent for quite some time, especially after the Lightmass Offensive. ''But what if it really wasn’t the Locusts? What if it was the Stranded after all?''

Considering the amount of lost, the idea of the Stranded being involved was unheard of, since they normally lack even basic resources, much less the means to form a militia. Maybe we were wrong.

“Oh shit…we need to get back! You know where there is one, there’s more to follow…” the other man starts to panic.

“Relax Gil…if a Feral found this, she probably assumed it was the Locusts who did it…and even if she doesn’t, I doubt the Feral are going to go out of their way to raid our fortress. They know better than that. They can’t handle the troikas, their armor is too weak.”

He slowly stood back up as he scanned around one last time.

“But your right Gil…we need to get back. Those Gear bastards are out there somewhere. It’s only a matter of time they come knocking on our door, and then we’ll be ready for them…and if they don’t, the winter will slay em. Without food and supply, they won’t last out here on there own, out of contact from central command. Now let’s go…leave the bodies, we’ll check them in the morning.”

He proceeds to step out of the area, while Gil follows close behind, reuniting with the others on horseback. They climb back into the saddles, turned the beasts around and galloped away.

Raven carefully moves out of the shrub, moving backwards as she starts to move in the other direction, following the squad’s, more than faint trail. The breeze picks up as it shakes the stems around the thicket, brushing along her armor. The events unfold in her head as she recites the scene over and over again, trying to see if there was anything she may have missed. It was too important, and she knew this was going to change everything they were set out to do.

Things were taking a turn, realizing that they may have been blind all this time, both the COG and the Feral.

Chapter: 14 Detour
Trying to forget

We’re falling right through

Lying to forget

We’re raising our truth

Lacuna Coil

Our truth

Gus baby, you need your hat…you can’t go out in that without keeping your head warm.

A six year old, Augustus Cole groaned, feeling the time delay between being stuck in the house all day from the white, snowball fight, bliss. As with most little boys, time cannot be wasted trying to put on a bunch of “winter” attire before jumping out into the freezing enigma that awaits them to be explored.

“Aw, c’mon mom. I’m not going to get sick,” he moaned as his mother walked over to him to fasten his hat on his earflap beanie, snug on his head.

“That’s exactly right…you are not going to get sick, if you keep your head warm…do you understand me?”

His mother gave him a scolding look as he nodded.

“Yes ma’am…” he muttered out as she finished wrapping the crochet scarf around his neck and checked the buttons on his coat. After she finished, she kneels down to him, laying a kiss on his exposed cheek.

“I only want what’s best for you baby…you know that,” she said solemnly as he looked up and she gave him a smile, while he flashed one back, giving her a hug. She lets him go, as she looks him in the eye,

“Now you be careful…and you will be back in this house by six o’clock, do you understand…unless you don’t want your supper?”

“I don’t want to miss supper.”

“Then you’ll be back here by six, right?”

“Right!”

“Ok…now go out and play nice!”

“I will, momma…bye!”

“Bye, baby!”

His mother waves as he darts out the door into the snow, covered wonderland, teaming up with his friends down the street.

Since Gus was four years old, his mother was practically raising him by herself, taking on the multitasks that single parents often have to do for the welfare of their children. His dad had disappeared, along with forty-three other men, who worked out on the Imulsion drilling, fields. With the war becoming closer to home, a lot of kids have lost a father, or a brother, sometimes even a mother. Gus could remember two of his friends whom lost family members a year later from when he lost his daddy. It was sadly starting to become the norm as he grew up in school, along with every other kid who lives with a single parent or grandparent.

But his mother would always wake him up in the morning while she got herself ready for work, and him ready for school. She would always make sure he had his shoes on right with his shirt tucked in and his teeth brushed, while she kissed him before she dropped him off to school. His bond with her was beyond price.

Like many, she worked hard, but she always had him in mind when she would help him with his homework or take him to his games, followed with a homemade meal. She did the best she could not to let her circumstances get her down. She always told him,

“You make the best of what you have…the good Lord will never leave you with just nothing…everything he gives you is for a reason.” She supported his internship at school to play “thrashball,” making an effort to come to some of his games when she could get off of work early enough to watch her son play. She was impressed by his intensity as his talent eventually helped pave his way through college, where he was eventually employed to the “thrashball” profession. As he moved up into the big leagues, however, he started to lose contact with his mother as the games took him away from home. He often sent her money to help pay bills back home, but she often refused it, sending him letters stating how proud she was, to see him become the man he grew up to be. That was all she ever wanted from him.

If only momma could see me now.

Cole was trudging through the snow, trying to bring his knees up to keep the snow from dampening the rest of his fatigues. They we’re already soaked around the knees.

He wrapped his head and arms in the blanket he took from the conduit station, while he trekked around the trees, occasionally looking back to see if Feral was coming.

All three were getting dreary, as the snow started to soak into their pants from all the hiking. Sven had a pillow tied to his lower back, which offered some warmth, but his lower thighs were screaming at him. He kept moving his legs up just to keep them warm, but it did nothing to settle the hunger pains and his aching legs.

Baird still had the torn sheet wrapped around his neck and another around his waist, trying to make sense of where they where actually going. Nobody else seemed to know where they where going, but him. He finally halts as they come to a rocky ridge, inside the forest that probably stood down twenty feet, as they peered over to see the rocky bottom below.

“Ok…we need to take a breather,” Baird announced as he plopped along the side of a boulder, slumping into the snow. At this point, his pants were already soaked so it didn’t matter anymore if he sat in snow or not.

“I heard that,” Cole agreed as he too, descended to the ground, laying out with his limbs sprawled in all directions. Sven finally came up to join them as he panted in between breaths from climbing.

“Oh, good…a break!”

He too plopped down, leaning his back against a tree.

The three sat and waited, wondering what may have happened back where they found what was left of Gamma four. It was a sobering encounter, considering they had no contact with command. So they were literally on their own, out in the wilderness, during the Frost, without shelter, without food, and without their guide. The situation couldn’t be any more dismal, although nobody dared to say it.

Cole groaned as he tried to pass the time, hoping that Feral would catch up to them, but in the back of his head, he was worried, and Baird could tell that he was worried.

“Relax, Cole…she’s a big girl…well, not literally, but…you know what I mean.”

“Yea…I just still can’t help it…that we left her behind, alone.”

“Cole, she’s been wondering in the wilderness, alone, for weeks at a time. She knows this area like the back of her hand.”

“Maybe she had to take a detour…ya know…to lead the Stranded away from our trail,” said Sven, sharing his thoughts openly.

“Sigh…maybe,” Cole ponders.

“Do you think we’ll ever get back…I mean…back to headquarters?”

“Yea kid…we’ll make it…you’ll see,” says Cole a he starts to wonder, does he really believe that? He tries to find something else to talk about to lighten the mood, making the best of what they did have, and right now, it was each other.

“So…Damon…what did you say to Feral?”

“Huh…what?”

“What did you say to her, man?”

“We didn’t kiss and make up, if that’s what you were wanting to know. You can give Vin his ten bucks back.”

“Ok, so what were y’all talking about?”

“Sigh, nothing.”

“What?! Nothing, my ass! You guys were talking, non-stop for almost an hour…Sven would know, he timed it!”

“What…you actually timed it… for real?”

“Yea, I mean it was seventy one minutes,” Sven said, despite it lacked Baird’s point.

“Look…we just talked about the Feral’s breeding theories”

“So you were talking about sex,” Cole blurted out.

“Not really, she was just explaining to me how the Feral ordain their “fertile” periods,” Baird responded.

“Ew…y’all were talking about periods,” Sven cringed as Baird turned to him and sneered,.

“Seasonal periods, not menstrual periods, you dumbass!”

Cole blurted back in the conversation.

“So did she tell you about what they teach?”

“Teach?”

“Yea…like some sex ed class…how they stroke it,”

“No, Cole…we didn’t talk “techniques,” can’t imaging what the hell for,”

“Ah cmon! It was some good stuff! She was talking about shit I never knew…and I know quite a bit, I mean…”

“Ok, Cole, I believe you, we can stop right there,”

“Oh c’mon, baby…everyone can use some pointers, even Vinny learned some stuff…”

“Yea, I can’t wait try some of it,” Vinny joined in with a gitty expression while Baird retorted,

“Oh yea, great Cole, now you soiled his virgin mind with all that crap!”

“I didn’t tell him…I showed him,” Cole beamed.

“You…wait…what? How’d you…”

“I used your pin-up drawings in your journal.”

Baird’s expression turned into irritation.

“Damnit Cole, you were rummaging through my shit again!”

“Hey, quite leaving your shit behind when you go out to take a shit!”

Sven jumps in,

“I never knew you could draw like that…those were some hot chicks…I especially like the one with big knockers, holding a blowtorch…”

“Oh, great, Cole…now you ruined his virgin eyes too?”

“Hey, I’m not a virg…”

“Shut up, Vin,” Baird stops him in mid sentence.

“Ah, give the kid a break! It’s been awhile since he’s seen some nice ass…hey, remember when Tanner talked you into drawing him that one chick,”

“What chick?”

“Ya know, that one waitress from the bar,”

“Oh, yea…I remember now.”

“Was she hot,” Sven asked as Cole nodded,

“Whoe yea…she was hot, wasn’t she Baird…” Cole lightly kicked Baird’s foot as he continued, “…he would know, he drew her.”

“Yea, Cole I did…thanks for reminding me,” Baird muttered while he rubbed his arms, trying to stay warm.

“Hey, you went along with it willingly, don’t say you regret it now, white boy.”

“I’m not implying anything…besides, Tanner was the one who had a big crush on her.”

“Yea, he did…may he rest in peace,” Cole said solemnly.

The three sit quietly, contemplating about the events that have taken place in their military careers, reflecting the times of tribulation, and wondering where will they go from here? But despite the past and the bitter cold, Cole decides to break the ice of their gloom for a second round of useless, men’s locker room chitchat.

“So, Damon…did you frisk her?”

“What…who?”

“You know…that chick you drew,”

“What, no, I didn’t frisk her, she just…willingly took off her clothes to let me sketch her, especially when I told her that it was for Tanner,”

“Uh huh…”

“Ah damn…she actually did that, man, I really need to change my strategy,” Sven whimpered.

“Yea…Baird’s all good about strategy, hehe,” Cole chuckles.

“I didn’t bang her, for crying out loud, Cole…ok, I’ll admit, she was kinda playful,”

“Uh huh…so what stopped you,”

“Are you kidding me, you know Tanner would’ve been pissed about it, besides, I didn’t feel like picking up a disease,”

“What, you didn’t know where she’d been,”

“No, I knew exactly where’d she been…that’s what was so scary,”

“Yea, I guess you got a point there,” Cole pondered and then continued, “…so, when are you gonna draw Feral?”

“Oh, oh now I get it, you just couldn’t resist, could you…you had to bring that up!”

“Damn right, baby…no point in leaving any blank spaces in yo journal, when you could be fillin it up…so when can we see some artistic pics of Feral?”

“Damnit Cole, I’m gonna start hiding my journal from you,”

“Damn…you already drew some stuff on Feral…how’d I miss that?”

“I didn’t…and even if I did, it’s none of your fucking business.”

“Aha, so you did!”

“Sigh…you know what, fuck you,” Baird turns to Sven, “…and fuck you too!”

“Ah, c’mon baby, it’s all good…everybody likes your artwork…I especially like the one you did of Marcus banging Any,…”

“Shit, Cole, what else have you…”

Before Baird could finish, the three look up to find Raven standing above them with her arms crossed, and her brow lowered, glooming at them. It was apparent she was eavesdropping for some time.

The mood quickly turned awkward as the three sat in silence, waiting for a scolding, as if mom caught them with their pants down, pissing in the yard. Instead, Raven simply strolled down next to the ledge as she looked down and them turned to them,

“We need to talk.”

Baird sighs as he starts to explain.

“Yea…we figured that. Look, we just…”

“Not about your “male,” gossip,” she said, exasperated.

“Oh…well, while we’re somewhat on topic, yea we do need to talk. We’re cold, we’re hungry…we’re cold,”

“Yes, Damon, I know,”

“Did he mention that we we’re cold…and hungry,” Cole continued for Baird while the three look at her with a dreary look. As she stared at them, she could tell they were uncomfortable and fatigued, not to mention famished.

“Sigh…listen, for a moment…please…and I promise I will take you to some food.”

The three slump further into their places as they look drearily up at her. Considering she hasn’t let them down yet, they figured they could spare some time to give her their audience, despite their unpleasant dilemma.

“Ok…look…I found out for sure that the Stranded, did, in fact, set up those bodies back there,”

“Shit, man” Cole blurts out as he shakes his head in disgust.

“I also…found out…that they have been eavesdropping on our radio conversations to control.”

Baird quickly looks up as he starts to ponder back to what all was said during those contacts. He then turns to Raven,

“They’ve been monitoring our communications…which means, they knew we were coming, and, any contact from here on out is going to expose the other squads, not to mention, ourselves…all further communications from this point on will be compromised.”

“…I’m afraid so,” answers Raven.

“Son of a bitch…”

“It gets worse, Damon.”

“How can it get any worse, Feral?”

“They…possibly…have some former Gears working with them.”

The three looked up, appalled by what Raven just revealed to them. She could feel the concentrated glares as she decided to sit in her place, grasping the inevitable unpleasantries.

Baird’s brow begins to sit heavy over his blue eyes as if he was demanding her full attention.

“Are you sure,” he says sternly.

“They were wearing some of the Gear fatigues and armor…and they moved like you guys do…they were not typical Stranded, that’s for sure….which might explain the new strategies they used to hunt down Gamma four.”

Cole stares at the ground as he curls his lip, processing Raven’s words, while he starts to talk, not moving his attention from the ground.

“That explains why they set up Gamma…they were waitin for us.”

Raven sighs, "That seems to be the better theory, but they definitely know, that we know, where they are located,” Raven says as she starts to rub her forehead, still trying to unwrap her head from the image of the large man, who was leading the party.

“Well shit…that changes our plans, big time,” Baird says as he slowly sits up, trying to get comfortable, but it did nothing to relieve his cold joints. Forgetting the fact the older he gets, the longer it takes to warm up and stretch his muscles. He realizes that he is going to have to get these guys to some food and warmth here, pretty soon. That was their current, and only objective. He looks up at Feral,

“First thing’s first, we need to go someplace where we can eat and get warm…preferably somewhere that we will not be found, before the freezing temperatures kick our ass.”

“It’s not horribly far…we can get there by dark.”

Baird nods his head as he carefully gets up and motions the others to get up as well.

“But what are we going to do afterwards” Cole stammers impatiently, suddenly forgetting that he was cold and hungry.

“I don’t know yet, Gus…we’ll figure this out after some grub, ok,” says Baird, trying to get Cole focused on the problem at hand.

“We can’t stay out here after dark…it’s not feasible.”

Cole looks to his side as if he was going to say something, but instead he nodded his head as he coldly gathers his gear. He knew Baird was right. There was nothing they could do at the moment, but relocate before nightfall. The idea of potentially freezing to death was not at the top of anyone’s list.

Sven gathered himself up, as Baird helped him up on his feet. Raven stepped back up towards where they just came, as she motioned to them.

“This way.”

As they departed to follow Raven to their next shelter for the night, it started to snow.

Damon’s Journal Entry #1
Baird here,

It’s been nearly two days since we landed, oh wait I’m sorry, crashed, for a mission that was supposed to take only till dusk. Well, somehow, somewhere, we fucked that up royally.

As much as I was able to gather within the past few days, when Cole and Vinny are not bugging me about shit I could care less to talk about, I have been monitoring our Feral “guide,” Raven in hopes that maybe we can get a little better understanding of the Feral and how they have managed to function as a somewhat separate culture. Now, I have not been able to observe their language since Raven has seldom used it, but she speaks our language rather well, which I later found that she was actually integrated into COG society before she ran off and joined the Feral; a little tidbit I had to pick her brain to get, but with some perseverance I was able to manage it. Yay me.

Needless to say, apparently they have some sort of caste “structure,” broken down into what I believe to be two major groups. First we have those similar to Raven, who do reconnaissance work, spying, hacking, busting balls, the usual, and then there are the “breeders,” to put literally are specifically “trained,” yea you heard me right, to seduce and mate with whoever they find, I guess “worthy” to lay pipe with, all under the guidance or leadership of a “matriarch,” or “reverend mother,” whom supercedes above the “right of passage” for mating and procreation.

According to Raven, after I had to drag my ass and apologize to her just so I could get her to talk to me, (don’t ask why) majority of the Feral have had some basic training on “breeding,” techniques. As I am trying to keep a straight face while writing this, please pardon the following jargon as I attempt to orient this to my own understanding of the topic. Besides, we can always edit later.

Now what one can find anything about sex that requires training was for the most part beyond me. I had always assumed that it was “wham bam, thank you ma'am,” until Raven mentioned the methods they use to inevitably turn a man on to the point his load blows all the way to the moon. Anyway, the Feral have amassed some sort of techniques on pleasuring, enticing the male by multiple means, and let me tell you, there was shit I found out that made me shudder. Things that they can do with their hands, feet, mouth, breasts, buttocks (don’t ask because I didn’t), legs, nose (wtf) and of course the vaginal fly trap.

Now, being inevitably the man that I am, you would think I would find the conversation rather alluring, but I shit you not when I say that it was pretty disturbing. These women can be malicious! They make S&M look like kiddie play, and on top of that, they take this business pretty seriously, almost as if it was a religion.

But moving along from the sex ed category, Raven has proven to be more resourceful than we give her credit for, hence the reason most of Sigma squad is still alive. Apparently, we have been trekking into her assigned territory, which crosshatches into other Feral “scouts’” along the mountain border and coast. She has amassed supplies, including food, shelter, and ammunitions for quite some time, stashing it away in “secret” locations, some of which is pretty well hidden. I believe she uses these places to stay at weeks at a time, carefully rationing her supplies, including medical and hygiene supplies. These chicks really take care of themselves, I mean, I’ve seen Raven use her toothbrush on the road several occasions using some “homemade” toothpaste and peroxide mouthwash. She probably uses the river, when it’s not frozen, to bathe, otherwise, she has found access to some old wells with a water heater, powered by a fuel generator. Needless to say, she doesn’t stink!

Now whether this is relevant, I am not sure, but it has been difficult to tell how old Raven really is because the Feral have found some means to keep them looking young. I found out that Raven is actually twenty-seven years of age, but she looks as if she’s nineteen, and apparently from what I gathered when I was conversing to her about it, they use some means of detoxification and natural ointments to keep their skin protected from the elements. Whatever it is they’re doing or using to keep them looking young, they could make a fortune patenting it.

Anyway, obviously she has been spying on us for quite some time, longer than I expected, so I would put money on the fact that these chicks are not by any means ignorant of what’s going on between us and the Locusts, as well as the Stranded. I can only guess though is that they are losing territory and their natural resources to the Locusts, Stranded, and probably us. This may be the contributing factor as to why they’re attacking Gears, but this is just speculation.

I also have reason to believe that she has been hacking into our network in the past few years, maybe longer, especially since she has access to computer terminals in some places where they are still connected to Jacinto’s mainframe. Now I do not know as of yet how much of our intel she has gathered but I bet she has a whole network of “classified” information somewhere in that little riddle of a head of hers that as of now has managed to keep from me, imagine that. But whatever the case, we seriously need to upgrade our security system on command's terminal, because obviously it’s not working.

When and if we return to headquarters, I would strongly suggest to command to invest into the further development of Feral and COG ties. The last thing we need is for these bitches to go medieval on our ass!

But on a more observational note, if these chicks have a more advanced means of reproducing as Raven claims them to be, then perhaps the COG needs to rethink it’s present “breeding” strategy other than just throwing all the women in the barn and hoping for the best.

Chapter 15: Back to Square One
The key is so distant...I’ve open doors

Now when to listen

Know what to listen for

Kick me out,

Let me go

I don’t belong here no more

The releasing steps

Of getting tired

Hold myself

I can’t hold myself

The shelf in the room

Has been the way

Of holding me

And letting me stay

The shelf in the room

Has been told the truth

I cant hide from the shelf in the room

The key is so distant

I’ve closed my doors

The shelf in the room

Is rain waiting to pour.


 * The Shelf In The Room


 * Days of the New

The air grew colder as the light from the setting sun faded behind the mountains. The shadows from the trees grew taller as the sun buried itself further into the Seran terrain. The sky was waterbrushed with an array of colors, accenting the heavy clouds over the horizon. Though Raven has watched it many times, she would never cease to awe at its magnificence. Of all the sunsets she has witnessed, this one was her favorite. She wanted so badly to sit and watch it go by, but the urgency of finding shelter hung heavily over her head, as if she was dragging three, heavy sacks of potatoes uphill.

Nothing seemed to ruin a picturesque moment more than Vinny asking annoying questions, or Cole whining to slow down, or Baird bitching about one thing or another, and then another. She continues to remind her self, ''it’s for the cause, for your sisters and our relations with the COG…seriously, who is this really fooling! Ugh!''

As she finally makes her way to a familiar place, she stepped up onto a boulder to peer overhead as she sees a small, vacant cabin up ahead in the woods, nearby, placing her hands on her hips. Our destination, finally! She then motioned to the others to looks ahead.

“We’re here…just near that cabin,” she points.

“Agh…about time,” Baird groaned, rubbing his arms to stay warm, while Cole and Sven huddled together, shivering in the cold.

Raven darted down the boulder as she ran through the woods, towards the cabin. Cole and Sven moved ahead, trying to keep at each other’s pace, while Baird picks up his legs, attempting to dodge fallen logs and storm debris as he runs down a slope to the back of cabin. He slows down as he peers around the rickety building, noticing that the roof has caved in from the heavy snow, while the foundation was teetering slightly on one side.

“This piece of shit is not going to help us, Feral,” Baird griped as he kicked it, hoping it would just collapse.

“We’re not staying in the cabin, Baird,” Raven responded as she went a little ways down, behind the cabin, to an unmarked area, near a slope. Cole and Sven finally join up with Baird, as they take a look at the abandoned building.

“Ugh…this does not look good…what are we going to do now,” Sven complained as Cole just stares at it blankly.

“Guys…over here,” Raven yells out, waving her hands as the three turn to see her pull open a cellar door, hidden behind the brush. The three quickly make their way around the trees and over to the cellar entrance while Raven, pulls out a lantern, next to the doorway and attempts to light it with a match. As the three finally catch up to her, she manages to light up the lamp and holds it at the doorframe, revealing stairs down into a area that resembles a basement.

“This was a shelter at one time, used during really bad snow storms…it’s pretty intact. It has about two rooms with beds, a “living” area with a fireplace, and an iron burner with a large pot for cooking.”

The Gears were about to melt at the news of beds, food, and warmth. Raven proceeds down the stairs as she clears the way into the “living” area and hangs the lantern on a hook hanging from the ceiling. She can hear the stairs creaking as the three, heavy Gears carefully move down the twelve-foot, flight of stairs. The three began to sober from the blistering cold as they could feel the warmth of the shelter already. Raven goes over to a wardrobe cabinet to pull out some more lanterns, while Baird goes back up the stairs to shut the door and clamps the door bars down onto the hooks bolted on the doorframe.

“We’re secure,’ he yells down while Raven lights up two more lanterns.

“Damon, come help me with this,” Raven yells over as Baird makes his way back down the flight of stairs. She turns over to Cole and Sven,

“See if you guys can get the fireplace started.”

“I’m all over it,” Cole beams as Raven hands him the matches and waits for Baird to join her.

“Did you call for me mistress,” he says as he limps his way over to her. She groans as she gets up and hands him one of the lanterns.

“Sigh, yea… I…need you, to go put this in that room over there while I set this one in the other room.”

Alright,” he says as he takes the lantern and walks towards the room, while Raven sighs and moves towards the other.

Sven huddles over to a wall of cabinets, rummaging around, looking for something to eat.

“Hey…we have beans…chicken broth…some canned vegetables…hey, we could make soup,” Sven yells out for the others to hear.

“Leave the cooking to me, Vin…you nearly burnt the chili last time,” says Cole as he gets the fire going, pulling out some more chopped wood from the pile next to the fireplace.

As Baird finds a place to hang the lantern, he looks around to find two twin beds, across form each other against the wall, with several quilts and a pillow on each.

“Hey, guys…we got beds…with blankets,” Baird yells out as Cole and Sven run into the room nearly tripping over one another to get a look.

“Aw, man, this is paradise,” Cole glees in excitement, as they hear Raven’s voice, coming from the other room.

“There’s a full size bed in here,” she yells out.

The three race over to the other room, peering from the doorframe, watching Raven pull out some fur blankets from under the larger bed.

“I call dibs on this one,” Cole blurts out as he busts in, pushing the other two away and jumping on the bed while Raven jolts back.

“Holy cow, Cole…geez.”

“Sorry Feral, but you gotta be quick with these guys.”

Before she could even turn to the other two, they were already darting back to the other room to claim their sleeping arrangements.

Raven sighs, “…oh, well…the couch is more comfortable anyway,” she mutters to herself as she picks up the sheep hide blankets and goes back into the living area.

The four continue to make themselves comfortable as the fireplace thaws the cold, musty air. The chicken broth in the pot, above the iron burner was boiling while Cole opened up the cans of beans and vegetables and threw everything in. He pulled up a chair next to the pot and sat down, wearing only his shirt and pants while his armor and boots sat near the fireplace to dry off.

Sven started to disrobe the top portion of his fatigues as he sat down and warmed up next to the fire, taking off his boots. He slowly peeled off his socks from his suffocating feet as he placed them closer to the fireplace to thaw them out.

“Aw, yea…much better…I swear, my feet felt like they were going to fall off,” Sven moaned, relaxing as he propped himself up with his arms and extended his throbbing legs.

“You’ll feel even better once you get some food in ya,” Cole grins as he takes a wooden spoon to churn the broth. “…but I know what ya mean…I couldn’t wait to get my armor off my achin calves.”

As the two get comfortable, Raven walks in, carrying some wooden bowls and steel silverware while placing them on the coffee table, next to the couch.

“You guys may want to eventually take off the rest of your fatigues so they can dry out…they’re pretty soaked,” she suggests as the two noticed that she was still in full gear.

“Hey…how come you didn’t get drenched in the snow,” Sven complains.

“My fatigues are mostly made of Reaver hide…their pretty weather proof…that’s why the Feral preferred the Locust garb over the Gear’s.”

“So how’d you get em?”

“We’ve spent the past eight years collecting a lot of armaments from the deceased…we discovered the advantages of the leather hides used by the hordes. Granted the armor is light, but we can move more efficiently in it than the Gear equipment…no offense.”

“None taken…besides, it looks flattering,” Cole muses as Raven gives him a perplexed look.

“On who?”

“On you, baby!”

Raven rolls her eyes.

“If you say so…and one more thing, there’s no bathroom so you’ll have to use the bucket in the closet.”

“You got it,” Cole replied while Sven basks in the heat coming from the fireplace.

As the three chat, Baird carefully limps into the room, cringing as if he was walking on broken glass. He came in wearing his undershirt and pants, walking barefoot while his tags dangled around his neck.

“Sup, Damon,” Cole acknowledged, noticing Baird was trying not to put too much weight on his feet as much as possible.

“Sore…everywhere…my feet…my legs, my ass…hey Feral, I don’t suppose there’s any ibuprofen around?”

“In the cabinet…over there,” Feral pointed behind her to the counter.

Baird limps over to the cabinet and opens it up. The shelf was filled with all sorts of pharmaceutical bottles as he scans through them, organized alphabetically.

“Geez, Feral…half of this shit is prescription only,” Baird notices as he could see the colored labels used to mark prescription bottles for side effect disclaimers. Baird finally finds the bottle he was searching for and grabs it. He carefully limps over to the couch, taking a seat, cringing until he finally sits down and turns to see Raven setting some folded blankets on the coffee table.

“What is that all for?” he bugs her.

Raven looks up with sarcastic expression as she responds, “I’m going to wrap you up in it with duct tape and use you for a kicking bag.”

Baird chuckles while he slowly props his feet on the coffee table.

“Don’t you think it’s a little too soon for foreplay?”

Raven picks one of the blankets up and throws it at him,

“That’s yours for the night…and keep it up, asswipe…you have to sleep sometime.”

“Ooo…better watch it Baird,” Cole chuckles.

“Yea, yea…still, at least I can say I got some action with a chick, even if it involves getting a beating…whatta you got to say for yourself, Gus?”

Cole sat in silence while Raven interrupted,

“Also, you guys need to hang up your fatigues so they can dry.”

“On what?” Baird gripes.

Raven sighs, “You see that clothesline on the wall over there,” she points while Baird looks ahead, noticing a wire prostrate along the wall, “…that’s where you hang your clothes and socks.”

“Yes, mom,” Baird sneers while Raven ignored him and started her way to the cupboard, pulling out some metal bowls.

“Damn, Feral...how’d you collect all dis stuff,” Cole asks in amazement, noticing all the supplies Raven had stashed around the room.

“Did you guys think I wandered the wilderness for five years and not pick things up along the way? How did you think I managed to stay out weeks at a time without food and supply?”

"I guess that would explain all that canned food in the pantry...half of them are expired though," Sven observed.

“Most cans have a shelf life of at least three years…but I believe we’ll be ok. I’ve had it before and it tasted fine.” Raven recalled from her past experiences of eating expired, canned food. She couldn’t afford to be picky when food was scarce to begin with.

“You’ve used this place several times, haven’t ya,” Baird observes as he leans back into the sofa, noticing some clamped, modem wiring along the wall. She’s probably got a laptop stashed somewhere around here, he pondered.

“Quite a bit actually…like I said…this is a perfect spot for hiding away for awhile, whenever needed.” Cole stands up as he checks their meal, picking up a bowl and scoops some of the soup up for test tasting.

“It’s ready guys.”

“Ah, sweet,” says Sven as he gets up and limps over to the pot. Baird groans, realizing that he really did not want to get up, his feet was still hurting. He gestures over to Cole,

“Hey man, bring me a bowl, willya?”

“Sure thing…” Cole replies as he gets up and starts to hand it Baird. Before Baird could grab it, Cole shakes the bowl, teasing Baird as he fakes it.

“Don’t make me have to get up, Gus,” Baird sneered while Cole let out a laugh, finally handing the bowl to him. As Baird places the bowl on his lap, he takes out the spoon for Cole to see,

“I outta shove this up your ass when I’m done,” Baird scoffed.

“Ooo, is that promise? Heehee,” Cole giggles as he sits back down with his bowl while Baird flips him the bird and blows him a kiss.

“Yea, you know you love it when I talk dirty to ya,” Cole muses.

“Whatever man,” Baird chuckles as he chows down. Raven was right...this didn't taste too bad.

“Pretty good, huh,” says Cole. Baird nodes, trying to swallow before he acknowledges Cole,

“We’ve had alot worse, that’s for sure…and it beats Marcus’ cooking anyday,” he says while Cole laughs.

“You mean, Sergeant Fenix?” Sven asks while eating at the same time.

“Hehe, oh yea, that man can burn water…” Cole says, reminiscing the days when they had to put up with Marcus' burnt toast for breakfast.

“…now Dom, WHOO, that boy can cook. He can make some the best enchiladas, hands down!”

Cole and Baird quickly figured that Dominique was the better at cooking home, made meals, mostly from when he used to fix dinner for his wife and children. But after Delta squad was getting tired of chewing on burnt rice and scorched eggs, it was widely suggested that Dom would be the “cook” from then on.

“Yea, those were the same enchiladas that also gave you guys the runs for a whole, damn week…," Baird griped, "...I finally had to tell Dom to quit making them because I got tired of cleaning the fucking toilet every time you guys used it!”

Raven puts her holsters down next to the couch and turns to Baird.

“Ok, of all the things you could be ranting about while we’re eating, Baird, you had to bring up your former squads’ dietary issues?”

“Are you kidding Feral…Damon’s always talking shit!” Cole beams while Sven laughs.

“Damn right I am…anything I can use to diss Marcus,” Baird scoffs.

After removing her shoulder harness, she places it next to the couch beside her holsters. She rotates her head, trying to relieve the tension in her neck as she looks up at Cole.

“Could you make a bowl for me please, Cole…I need to go turn on the generator for the water heater to work.”

“You got it, baby!”

Raven opens up a trap door on the floor, next to the pantry and goes down a ladder with a flashlight.

After filling his bowl, Sven walks over back to the fireplace and sits back down on the floor.

“Oh, don’t forget, Feral said we need to strip down,” Cole reminds the two men.

“Yea, yea…we’ll hang it all up when we’re done chowing down,” says Baird as he takes his feet off the coffee table.

Raven comes back up, bringing a galvanized tub and places it on the counter.

“Please put your bowls in here when you’re done so they can soak,” she says as she walks over to find her bowl.

“I got it right here, baby,” says Cole as he hands her the bowl. She turns around to go sit down on the couch next to Baird as she waits for it to cool off, setting it on the coffee table. Baird puts his empty bowl down and slowly leans back as he props up his knees, and then turns to Raven,

“Ok, back to business…so where can we go, because obviously we can’t flank the Stranded settlement from the side, if we can flank them at all. Most likely, they are probably waiting for us, and from what I understand from what you mentioned earlier, they're probably a lot more resourceful than we give them credit for.”

Raven takes a moment to analyze the situation, reviewing her own mental notes from a few months earlier.

“The settlement has been there at least five months, that I know of, but I have not updated them in over a month so I can’t tell you what they have amassed as of now…but what I can tell you is that they have been stripping down a lot of your fallen vehicles, and I am not just talking ammunition, or weapons.”

“What else can they possibly take,” Cole asks in curiosity.

“I’ve seen them haul an entire APC, using a couple of mountain bison to pull it all the way to their fort...I really didn’t know why at the time, but after recent events, I believe they may be forming some sort of a militia.”

“Do you think they could fix up those vehicles?” Sven asks as Baird looks turns to look at him with amusement,

“I doubt it…they can’t even maintenance their own weapons, much less fix a Dill…”

“I have reason to believe they may have a few mechanics working on something,” Raven responded.

“Oh? Please…enlighten us,” Baird questioned her.

“The last time I spied on them, I noticed some Stranded working on the vehicles inside a large, metal building…that and they were moving all their scraps they’ve accumulated into the garage.”

“That doesn’t sound good, Damon…” Cole acknowledges as he continues, “…if they have some disgruntled Gears working along with the Stranded…”

“That’s another reason why we can’t just go up to them, guns blazing Gus… we won’t know for sure what they have until we can investigate it…shit, this whole thing is starting to piss me off”

“Hell Baird, you knew this whole thing sucked balls to begin with," Cole conveniently reminded him, “…and I wonder what command is doing to do about it now!”

“Well, Cole, only three squads made it do the drop-off point, and from what Anya told me, they too were having communication problems,” Baird informed him.

Raven begins to blow on her bowl, hoping for it to cool down as she cuts in,

“Speaking of which, they are using some device to shield them from your satellite. I believe this same device may be contributing to our communication issues.”

“How do you know?”

“I overheard them talking about it…they were curious as to how we figured their location, since the COG couldn’t locate them.”

“Wait…you overheard them?”

“Uh…yea…”

“You were that close…without being detected?”

“Are you kidding, I’ve managed to hide from Drones and Berserkers.”

“Ok, now how did you do that?”

“I used entrails left by wretches, to hide my scent…it works great as a camouflage…especially against Stranded, not to mention you guys.”

“Yea…you keep reminding us…” Baird groans as he rubs his forehead, waiting for the medication to kick in, “…but it probably smells pretty gross, too.”

Raven sighed, “You get…used to it.”

Baird let’s out a slight chuckle as he continued,

“Anyway, if what you said earlier is true, then that would explain quite a bit. Command has been searching up and down this whole area, trying to put together schematics of this entire area…if they are disrupting the satellite, then we were probably going the wrong way to begin with…the schematics that we had to work with is crap!”

“They also mentioned that they have acquired some troikas, and something about a fortress…" Raven continued, “…as you said before Damon, it will not be wise to move in from the side as we originally planned.”

Baird groans, leaning his head over the cushion while Raven finally picks up her bowl and eats as the others finish up.

“Which means we’re going to have to go around the mountain to the “ass end” of the settlement…” Baird moans.

“…that would be the more practical alternative, yes.” Raven confirms. Baird slumps into the sofa as Raven finishes up her soup and then continues,

“You may want to sleep on this one, Baird…because the only thing I can suggest at this point is to wait a little longer. They have no idea how you guys are surviving the cold...they think y’all will not last any more than a day.”

“Point taken…shit, my feet hurt,” Baird gripes while Cole puts up his bowl.

“Well then get off your feet and go to bed,” Raven suggests as she gets up to put up your bowl.

Baird groans, “But that means I have to get up.”

“Well why don’t you sweet talk Cole into carrying you to your bed.”

“Shit yea, I’d do it,” Cole blurts out. Baird lifts up his head and gives a Cole a dirty look,

“You even so much as look at me wrong and I swear…”

“Yea, promises, promises, hehe…” Cole chuckles while he looks at the leftovers in the pot, “…hey, we got enough here for breakfast,” Cole announces as he puts the lid back on the pot. Baird pulls himself up and limps his way over to the tub on the counter, placing his bowl inside,

“Ugh, we still need to hang up our clothes…shit, my pants are wet.” Cole starts to snicker as he takes off his pants to hang them on the clothesline, leaving on his boxers and undershirt.

“Well, quit wettin yourself…c’mon guys…take it off so I can hang it up…you too Damon!” Baird groans as he loosens his utility belt and slips his pants off, while glancing at Raven filling the tub with warm, soapy water.

“Ok, Feral…cover your virgin eyes while we undress,” he smirks while Raven gives him a dirty look.

“Contrary to what you may believe, I am familiar with the male anatomy,” she explains, “…so anything that you may have to brag about will not shock me.”

Cole starts to chuckle,

“Yea, but you ain’t seen nothing until you've seen the Train, baby!”

Baird snickers while Sven throws his pants over to Cole. Raven walks over to help Cole hang up their fatigues.

“Try to spread them out…so they can breath,” she said.

“You got it, baby,” says Cole, pulling up Baird’s pants over the clothesline while Feral hangs up Sven’s.

“Hey Cole…” Baird blurts out, “…catch!”

Baird throws his pants while Cole catches them in mid air.

“Damn, baby, these are soaked,” said Cole, hanging up Baird’s damp fatigues.

While Raven finishes setting up the fatigues to hang and dry, Cole moves over to pick up his armor.

“Well, I’m going to hit the hay…catch you bitches later,” Cole announced as he started to walk into his room. While Raven hung up the last pair of socks, Cole yells out form his room,

“Hey, Feral…be a sweety and bring me a cup of water please,” Cole asks while Raven let’s out a groan. Sven starts to pick himself up from the floor after he thawed out. He stretches and scruffs his light brown hair as he yawns and starts to make his way to his bed.

“See y’all in the morning.”

“Be sure to put your armor against the wall so I don’t trip over it,” Baird yells back while Sven waves a gesture as he yawns. As Baird turns back around, he notices Raven is still cleaning up while loading the dishes into the tub, sitting on the counter.

“And while you’re at it, you think you could come tuck me in…” Baird muses while Raven scoffs back,

“Good night, Damon…and don’t trip and fall on your way over there because your not getting a lick of sympathy from me.”

“Aw…not even a tiny lick?” he scoffs while she rolls her eyes, “…alright, fine…but you need to get some rest too, so quite playing house-wife and go to sleep.”

“Yes, dad,” Raven sneered, flashing Baird an expression of sarcasm as she finishes up the dishes. But her words bounced off him like raindrops hitting kevlar, rolling off his back while he dishes out the same without regret.

“Yea, you remember who’s your daddy,” he scoffed, followed by a chuckle as he goes to his room. Raven threw her wash gloves to the wayside as she marched over to Sven and Baird’s door and shuts it. Arrogant prick.

Raven turns back around, grabbing a clean cup form the cupboard and fills it with water. She proceeds over to Cole’s room.

As she steps in, she could see him still trying to get under the layers of blankets, tucked under the bed.

“Geez, Feral…how many blankets are there?”

“Hopefully enough to keep at least your feet warm.”

“Yea, I heard that!” said Cole while Raven walked into the room, trying not to trip over his armor on the floor.

“…and I brought you’re water.”

“Aw, Feral…that’s so sweet of you…my Momma used to bring me a glass of milk almost every night.” Raven walked over to hand him the cup while Cole continued,

“When I was real little…if you can ever imagine me being little…” Cole bragged as Raven rolled her eyes, “…Momma would either read me a story, or sing me a song.”

“Well, I’m afraid I am out of bedtime stories…or at least some happy ones…and I’m not much of a singer.”

“How long have you been away from people, Raven?” Cole suddenly asks, solemnly. His question caught Raven slightly off guard, but answered it anyway,

“Too long, perhaps,” Raven says soberly, with a brief smile that dissipated as quickly as it appeared. Cole drinks his water and then sets on the table next to the bed, while Raven leans over to pick it up.

“Well…hopefully that will do,” she said as she stands back up.

“Oh, yea…that’s nice…” Cole moans as he nestles his head into his pillow, thawing from the cold. He looks up at Raven as she rubs the back of her neck,

“So why doesn’t a cutie like you ever get out?”

She looks at him with a perplexed look, but then responds,

“Get out, where…I mean…where am I to go? To the COG, where I’ll get shipped out to the nearest breeding farm…to the Stranded, where the only means of survival is to work in a brothel,” she goes on while Cole just takes it in, realizing he should have rephrased the question.

“Gee Feral…I meant, why didn’t you go out and get married, have some kids?”

“With who…to some scrawny, booze ridden Stranded, or some hormone fed Gear, I mean… yea, my choices are really infinite.”

“So I guess us, guys aren’t to your liking, huh?”

Raven groans, “Ugh, Gus…don’t take it the wrong way, it’s just, you guys have more important things to worry about than thinking about settling down. Seriously, how often do you think about it, Cole?”

“All the time…it’s just I got alot to choose from, ya know…well, at least I used to” Cole grins slightly while Raven raises an eyebrow, “those were the good ol’ days.”

“Yea, I bet they where…but what about Vinny, can you see him settling down? I mean, geez, I don’t even know if his balls have dropped yet.”

Cole chuckles in amusement about Raven’s observation as she continues on,

“…and oh, where do I even begin with Baird.”

“Nah, Baird’s ok…you just have to get to know him before you hate him.”

“Who ever said that I hated him?”

“Well…it seems like you get pissed off at him all da time…and believe me when I say he really isn’t trying to piss you off, he just doesn’t know how to talk to the ladies.”

“I don’t think he really knows how to talk to anyone, much less ladies…but he’s just as human as the rest of us.”

“Oh…so…you don’t hate him…well, I guess there’s hope for him yet,”

Raven sighs as she changes the subject,

“What is it about you that keeps you going, Cole?”

Cole never thought that Raven would ever be interested in such things, but he addresses her inquiry anyway,

“My Momma always used to tell me, when things just didn’t seem to go right, to make the best of what you have,” Cole continued, as Raven hung onto every word, listening attentively, “…and right now…the best that I have is Damon, Vinny, and you.”

Raven could see the exhaustion in his face as he mumbles the last bit of words that she took into her mental journal. She never thought a Gear could feel such things, embrace on the little moments that would otherwise appear so subtle. Perhaps they were not as unsentimental as she always believed them to be. Cole certainly wasn’t. Raven almost envied Cole, in the way he viewed daily life as a blessing, considering everything he did have, and not second guess on the things he didn’t have.

“Get some sleep, Cole…your exhausted,” Raven says while Cole snuggles his head into his pillow and shuts his heavy eyes. Raven exits the room and carefully closed the door behind her.

As she makes her way to the couch, she opens up a blanket and puts it on the couch while she straightens the cushions and takes a seat. Taking off her boots and leather leggings, she places them on the coffee table, and then unstraps her loincloth, along with her pelvic plates. Leaning back as she places her hand on her forehead, Raven sighs, slowly unwinding as she starts to drift into exhaustion.

Raven starts to get comfortable, until she feels something underneath her, jabbing into her thigh.

Damnit, what the hell am I sitting on that is digging into my leg? She sits up from her seat, looking over and noticing a pair of goggles clumped in between the cushions.

Ugh…geez, Damon, she groans as she picks them up and starts to make her way to his room, cringing from the cold, concrete floor stinging her bare feet. Carefully, opening the door, she slowly steps in, trying not to make any noise while Sven and Baird were fast asleep. The lamp, hanging above, gave just enough light for her to move around without tripping over their equipment, sprawled out on the floor.

I thought they were going to put it against the wall, she groaned to herself as she steps around their armor while moving over to a lamp table that sat in between the two beds. Sven, who was lying on his side in the fetal position, snored, soundly as she walks over to the lamp table and puts Baird’s goggles next to his Snub pistol. As she turns around, she noticed Sven’s youthful skin in the faint light, noticing that he has not shaved since they were deployed. I guess he didn’t bring a razor.

Moving away, trying not to step on their stuff, she turns around and noticed Baird was lying on his stomach, snoring loudly, drooling on one side of his mouth while his arm was hanging off the bed.

Well isn’t that a classy sight, she chuckled to herself. Stepping around the armor in the dimming light, she stumbles over a boot, quickly placing her hand along a bedpost to keep herself from falling on her face as she takes a seat on the side of Baird’s bed. Shit…she grinds her teeth, tempted to entertain the idea of picking up his boots and tossing them outside. Releasing a sigh as she rubs her forehead, she turns her head and notices the calm expression on the side of his face, while the other side was buried in his pillow, lying on top of his pool of drool. She leans over to get a better look of the scars on his pale cheek, wondering to herself, what has this man seen in his military career…is this the face of a hardened soldier?

Unlike the youthful, innocent complexion of inexperience that masks Sven’s façade, Baird’s complexion was coarse from years of service and mature in age. She never took notice of Baird’s scars before until the fluttering, dim light of the lamp exposed them, revealing a part of his character in a way that was serene, yet obscure. She couldn’t help to wonder what it was that made him so fractious and unfeeling. Despite his hardheartedness, she wonders if there were something she never thought to see before that he kept so veiled, that only the most penitent of people would be able to grasp it.

Raven shuts down her thoughts as eyes started to grow heavy. She stands back up and proceeds to tip toe out of the room before she smacks her shin against one of their breastplates. Ugh, damnit! Wincing from the sharp pain, throbbing in her leg, she holds her tongue before she was able to blurt out any profanity. As she limps out of the room to her own place of rest, Raven crashes on the couch, pulling herself under the layers of sheep and camel, fur blankets.

Succumbing to her exhaustion, she drifts into her own childhood memories, dwelling on the times when she was “happy,” and life was ordinary. She recalled the days when Mommy would greet her with a smile when she got off from school, and then went home to see Daddy to tell him about her day, just as any family should be.

How much things have changed since then, when her foster father was killed defending an COG outpost, and her foster mother was hiding her from the “Fortification Act,” by homeschooling her and keeping her profile low when they went to the supermarket. Everything changed after E-day. Everything that she was taught, their family values, the moral code, all that she grew up to know was quickly violated when the Probation officer would visit their home, checking on Raven when she was a preteen. She remembered her mother confronting the officer, telling him to get out of their house, accusing them of soiling the sanctity of their home with their presence, eyeing her “daughter.”

But then it happened, the day Raven dreaded for so long had inevitably come. It was the first day she began her menstrual cycle. She realized she could no longer hide her secret from them anymore. It was from then on, she believed there was no other option, but to runaway.

Intermission II
The dogs of war don't negotiate

The dogs of war won't capitulate,

They will take and you will give,

And you must die so that they may live

You can knock at any door,

But wherever you go, you know they've been there before

Well winners can lose and things can get strained

But whatever you change, you know the dogs remain.


 * Pink Floyd


 * Dogs of War

The early morning was calm as the overcast in the sky stopped falling, giving time for the recent fallen snow to settle. The sun peered over the mountains, giving a soft afterglow into the forest as the faint light glistened around the snow, covered trees.

Not far from the frozen great lake, a Stranded on horseback traveled across the open plain, clopping back to the forest where Gamma Four was left to rot. Tied to the back of his horse, pulling behind him was a man, partially unclothed as he moved barefoot in the snow behind the animal.

Hanging heavy in the a air, the bitter cold nipped at his flesh while his feet were frost bit, numb and unfeeling as he could barely keep up with the pace of the horse, until he finally collapses onto the ground, letting the horse drag him. As they move near the edge of the forest, the rider slows his down and proceeds to dismount. It was the same man Raven saw before, the big one who was sniffing out the whereabouts of Sigma squad.

He walked around as he grabbed the man by the hair on his head and stood him up, barking at him,

“On your feet soldier…keep moving this way,” the big Stranded untied the rope from the saddle and pushed the man from behind, forcing him to grudgingly walk on his frozen feet, wearing nothing but his lower fatigues without anything covering his torso or face. The Stranded shoved him again,

“Move along, Sergeant Harley…your men are waiting,”

“Go…fuck yourself…traitor,” the Sergeant spits out as he shivers violently from the cold. The Stranded only shoved him again as Harley moved along into the woods, back to where his men where dumped in the open area ahead. Harley then collapses from his weathered feet, trying to get back up as he crawls. Instead, the Stranded decided to drag Harley by his hair, while the Sergeant cringed from the pain as the big Stranded threw him next to one of the bodies, partially buried under the snow. The Stranded walked around Harley, patiently waiting for the Sergeant to look up at him while he lectures.

“Apparently Sergeant, Sigma One is out and about, looking for our settlement...so what I want to know is how did they found out about our location.”

Harley didn’t answer. He just glared at him, blood seeping from his mouth as his arm was hideously swollen from a bullet wound he received during the ambush Gamma Four walked into the night before. He could tell that the Stranded was once a Gear. He knew their protocol too well, and was able to strategically take out his men, one at a time. He knew that it wasn’t the Locusts or the Feral who took out Epsilon Two and Eta Three a month ago and Theta Four a week earlier. Command has it all wrong. This wasn’t about just stealing supplies and clashes among factions.

“Come on Sergeant…don’t make me have to ring the info out of the others.”

Harley was shivering horribly as his whole body was becoming numb, his limbs losing their feeling as his lungs ached from breathing the cold air. He didn’t know if he could respond if he wanted to. Either way, he knew he was dead, the others would eventually be too, regardless if he told this guy anything or not. If Sigma is still alive and well, searching for the settlement, then he would be damned to tell anything about how they knew about it. Raven is with them…she’s supposed to know this place front and back, so she probably knows about their location…and I bet she is leading Sigma to it.

As much as he could muster, Harley sucks in the cold air into his nostrils as he pulls up the blood hanging in his throat into his mouth and spits on the Stranded’s boot.

“Fuck…you...asshole!”

The Stranded’s blue eyes scowled underneath his hooded scarf as he looked away at the scattered remains of Gamma squad. There’s plenty of room for one more.

“Then I believe it is time for you to join you’re men, Sergeant. I must admit, you are an admiral Gear, you would have been an excellent soldier for our cause, but alas, you are brainwashed… and all this for what…for the sake of humanity under Prescott’s rule?”

The Stranded pulled out his Lancer as he revs up the drum on his chainsaw bayonet, warming up the chain belt from sitting idol from the cold. As he revs the Lancer some more, he moves in while he prostrates himself over Harley, holding the Lancer above his head,

“Until we meet again soldier…in hell…”

Harley closes his eyes, not feeling the air turn around him, even while the Lancer comes down on him plowing through his head. His body was too numb to feel anything, even while his severed skull collapses under the jagged teeth of the saw. No screaming, no howling, just the sound of the Lancer echoing through the woods and over the lake. Only to those who may be in earshot, understood it’s war cry, even in the blinding snow.

Chapter 16: Rude Awakening
Don't wanna feel no more

It's easier to keep falling

Imitations are pale

Emptiness all tomorrows

Haunted by your ghost

Fading out by design

Consciously avoiding changes

Curtains drawn now it's done

Silencing all tomorrows

Forcing a goodbye.

Lay down, black gives way to blue

Lay down, I'll remember you


 * Alice in Chains


 * Black Gives Way To Blue

The smell of burnt wood saturates the air, while Raven pictures the fires still burning as the Hammer of Dawn raped the landscape of it’s once rich resources. She can still smell the smoldered prairies still fresh in the aftermath of its ruin. A world once so beautiful, now ravaged by the schemes of men, trying to control what was not meant for them to control.

Raven could still see the faces of those who were left behind, to wander in the wilderness, known only as the Stranded. She remembers the seeds of hate, still burning deep in the soil, while further down in the depths of Sera lies another tribulation, soon to surface and rear it’s ugly head. Now, both forces rise against the COG, as the Stranded gather to reorganize their masses, and the Locusts, fighting over territory on two fronts, the humans and the Lambent. But now, the wrath of Sera chills the air with her cold shoulder, as this year marks a heavy Frost, raging on all that inhabit it. The lines of right and wrong have since then blurred into a gray so vague, it was at times Raven didn’t know whom to feel sorry for the most.

As the aroma of the burnt wood starts to dissipate, she can feel a tug on her shoulder, pulling her back into her consciousness, as she slowly opens her foggy eyes, only to see another dilemma that she has been dealing with for the past couple of days.

“Ugh…what do you want…go away,” she moans as she pulls her blanket over her head.

“C’mon sleepyhead…it’s after nine…we need to get moving,” says Baird in a low, quiet tone, as he shakes her shoulder again. He could hear her groan under the fur blanket as she curls in a tight ball, not wanting to give him the time of day. Baird sits up with his hands on hips as he gets impatient.

“Ok…no more nice guy,” he says as he grabs the top of the blanket and yanks it off of her. Suddenly, the cool air swarms her body as she feels the tingling on her exposed legs and shoulders.

“Son of a bitch!”

“You better believe it…c’mon Feral, get up!”

Baird throws the blanket on the floor as he picks up Raven’s equipment and dumps it on her.

“Owe…damnit, that’s cold!” she yelped.

“It’s after nine, we need to get going.” Baird informs her.

“After what? Why didn’t you wake me up earlier…”

“Well, I figured you needed the extra rest, besides, it’s not like we’re in a hurry to get anywhere.”

“That’s not the point!”

“Yea, yea…hurry up and get your breakfast…the rest of us are ready, waitin on you.”

Raven grumbles to herself as she can feel her hair shuffled in all directions while she rubs her bare arms to warm herself up. She wore only her ceremonial garb, made of a fine velvet, wrapped around her body as it haltered around her neck, holding up her bosoms. Baird walked back over and put a warm bowl of soup on the table while Raven quickly shielded her breasts with her arms to avoid exposing her hardened nipples, protruding through the cloth. She couldn’t imagine anything more embarrassing.

Baird stood back up, already in his full armor as he crossed his arms, amused by her modesty.

“Nice…”

“Oh, shut up! Go…do something.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care, just go away.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll give you your privacy.”

“Thank you,” Raven barked while Baird started to climb up the flight of stairs. She picked up her bowl of soup and started to eat, hoping it will warm her up enough for her to crawl out into the cold air.

Meanwhile, Baird emerges back out into the wilderness of the winter wonderland as Cole and Sven are throwing snowballs over a shallow cliff, trying to see who can throw the farthest.

“Haha…c’mon, Vinny…let’s see how low you can throw,” Cole mocked in amusement.

“Yea, you just wait Cole Train…I got ten years of softball behind this arm,” Sven brags as he takes a few steps and swings his arm as the ball of snow hurls across the rocky chasm below.

“Not bad kid, but let me show you how a pro does it,” Cole muses as he steps up for his turn. Baird hollers in the background,

“C’mon Cole, your not going to let that snot nose get the best of ya!”

Cole swings his massive arm, launching the ball across the gap, but stops abruptly as the ball of snow splatters on a boulder below.

“What…the…fuck,” Cole snorts in shock while he could hear Baird spilling with laughter, so hard he nearly falls over. Sven starts to laugh as well, moving back down the slope, trying to brace himself against a tree.

“Yea…you assholes laugh it up,” Cole barks while the two start to laugh even harder at Cole, as if ponies and rainbows were coming out of his ears.

All the while, Raven stomps up the stairs with her equipment and out onto the surface, seeing what all the commotion was about. As she glances to see Baird on the ground trying to contain himself and Sven hugging a tree, she rolls her eyes and carefully shuts the door to the underground cellar. Baird tries to get up and walk over to Raven’s position while trying to compose himself.

“Uh…ahem…so are you ready to go?”

Raven hides the chain back behind the brush as she kicks some snow on it to conceal it and then she turns to Baird,

“Yes…it is time to go…and wipe the snow off your ass before it gets soaked again.”

“Yes, mom,” Baird sneers.

Raven adjusts her holsters as she waits for the other two to join them. While Baird wipes the snow from the back of his rear and legs, Cole treads his way down the slope, huffing in the cool air while Sven walks over to pick up his Longshot and slings it on his back.

“Well as our illustrious Corporal mentioned earlier, we need to go around another mountain to flank the Stranded from behind,” Raven begins. Baird looks up to respond,

“So the “back” of their settlement is further from the lake, I take it.”

“Yes…it will take us out of their sight, giving us some time to flank them in the back, which is actually the more vulnerable area…assuming they have not fixed that since the last I’ve seen it.”

“Terrific…so what makes the back vulnerable?”

“There is a cliff that hangs a bird’s eye view of the entire settlement…I’ve used it numerous times to spy on them.”

Cole jumps into the conversation.

“How come we didn’t consider this direction before if it offered a better advantage?”

“Well, that’s the bad news…” Raven replies, “…there is a problem if we go this route.”

Baird sighs, “Here it comes…”

“There are some Locust outposts between here and there,” she said.

“Shit, are you kiddin…that’s even better…now we can finally get some action,” Cole bursts out with enthusiasm.

“How many are we looking at,” Baird asks.

“At least two…maybe three…” Raven responds.

“Are there any places that you know of where we can accumulate ammo?”

“Of course, Baird…. I wouldn’t suggest this path otherwise”

“You do realize, Feral, that we’re taking quite a risk here…especially when it concerns Locusts…there’s not a lot of room for screwing this up guys!”

Baird looks at the squad as a whole while his demeanor turns sober, hoping that the three know what they are getting into.

“What’s so different about these Locusts than the one’s we encountered before?” Sven asked.

“For one thing, kid, we don’t have access to any intel from control,” Cole answered while Baird acknowledged,

“That also means we are outside of the line of command, and until we can reach the other side of this settlement, we are literally on our own…just the four of us…” Baird turns his attention to Raven, “Feral, as you should already know, although we’re somewhat on objective, we have no other resources concerning the schematics of this area, so we’re going to have to trust you to help us get through this…we’re kinda winging it from here on so there’s no room for fucking this up.”

“Ok, now are you being serious, or are you just patronizing me,” she says in suspicion.

“No, I’m being serious…look, yesterday has been kind of a circus so I need everyone to back in focus, just as we did when were being dropped off, you got it?”

“Sigh…understood,” Raven replied.

“So what’s the plan when we finally get there?” Sven asked.

“We haul ass back to Fort Block…” Baird replied.

“Command is going to have reevaluate this fubar situation real quick, if what everything we speculate is true,” Cole added. Baird replied,

“That’s the plan Gus…so are you up to it?”

“You know it,” Cole blurts out while Baird continued,

“Vin?”

“Yes sir,” Sven salutes while Raven nodded.

“Alright, let’s get this party started!”

Chapter 17: Running With Scissors
Just give me the word and I will be there,

Just tell me the words that I've been living for,

Just tell me the things that I've been fighting for,

It's do or die, this is either or,

Just give me the word and I will be there.

You've got to find your balance,

You've got to realize,

You've got to try to find what's right before your eyes.

And if you find you've fallen,

And all your grace is gone,

Just scream for me and I'll be what you're falling on.


 * Finger Eleven


 * Falling On

A small town sits on a shallow plateau, wedged against the mountain where a small mining community apparently made their permanent residence. From the woods nearby, Sigma squad can see the empty civilization clearly as they observed cargo trucks lined up near the town fuel station, heaped in snow. A pavilion sits in the middle of the town, surrounded by wooden and log houses while the mining facility, sits along the mountain slope.

The town has long since been abandoned, while the roofs on a few of the homes caved in from the heavy snow. The snow on the dirt roads was so high, the vehicles that parked along the side of the road where practically buried. A bridge that crossed over a rocky frozen creek was iced over while the water tower leaned slightly on one side from the ice weighing it down. The place was completely dead.

The squad sat and looked on, wondering what was actually down there while Raven sat and scratched her head, trying to figure out what happened to the Locust outpost that once occupied this area.

She starts to get irritated.

“Ugh…damnit, they were here…not even two weeks ago!”

Baird looked over the area, using Sven’s riflescope.

“Well…it appears to be empty now. We’re just going to have to go down there and check it out, Feral…we really have no other option.”

“I don’t like this,” she growled while Baird chuckled.

“What’s to like?”

Raven buries her head in frustration, and then looks up, holding her head with her hand. She groaned trying to revaluate her mental notes, wondering if there was anything she may have missed. It was not like her to be careless when it came to such things.

Sven and Cole sit along the trees, waiting for Raven and Baird to make up their minds as to how this was going to play off. Baird finally sighs as he turns over to hand Sven his rifle back. Cole breaks the awkward silence,

“Maybe we ought to split up…two of us stay here while the other two go in,” he suggests.

“No way…we need complete support in the case of an ambush…” Raven protests while Baird cuts her off.

“I like that idea, thanks Gus.”

“You’re most welcome,” says Cole.

Feral turns in shock.

“What…you can’t be serious!”

“Yea, well, guess what Feral…I am,” Baird responds without missing a beat.

“You’re only agreeing with this, just so you can disagree with me, you arrogant bastard…” Raven continues to rant while Baird rolls his eyes and begins to pull off his COG tags. He gestures Cole to do the same.

“…and furthermore…wait, what the hell are you doing?”

Feral looks at the two while Cole hands Baird his tags. Baird then turns to Raven,

“You and Vinny stay here and wait until Cole and I check it out.”

“Oh no…nuh uh…I’m not going to sit here while…”

Baird takes Feral’s hand and puts their tags in her palm as he cuts her off in mid sentence.

“The Locusts can’t handle a snowstorm, so they probably took off elsewhere…” Baird continues while Raven gives him her blue eyed glare of disapproval, “…look Feral, if there is an ambush out there, we can’t afford to let it take out the entire team…if we don’t signal to you guys within thirty minutes, you and Vinny get out of here and head back to Fort Block. Oh, and hang on to these just in case.”

“This is absurd…”

“Hey, if you have a better idea, then let’s here it!”

Baird catches her off guard while she reacts as if she was going to say something, but her words come up dry. Raven was so drenched in frustration, she couldn’t come up with any other better alternative. Baird sits patiently as he waits for an answer, but then realizes that she didn’t have one.

“Uh, huh…that’s what I thought,” he says standing up, impressed with himself while Raven just flashed him a scowl as he pulls out his Lancer. Cole does the same, brushing the snow off of the handle as he gets up. Baird turns to Sven.

“Vinny, you keep a scope out for our signal, you got it?”

“On it!”

“Good boy…oh, and watch the little lady…be sure she doesn’t run off!”

Feral gives him a sour look while Baird turns her direction,

“Yea, you heard me Feral…we’ll be back soon so keep your panties on,” Baird mocks, while Raven stands up, grumbling to herself as she sits in disgust next to Sven. He starts to chuckle to himself as he begins to move down the slope into town with Cole following behind.

The two slow down as they get to the central road that swerves into town, covered in at least knee-deep snow. A breeze passes them by, circling around the structures and the vehicles, piled in the snow. Cole and Baird carefully walk through the deserted town, looking around for tracks, shells, and Locust paraphernalia as they peered into the windows of the buildings nearby.

“Wow…could it be any more desolate?” Baird remarks while glancing around the buildings.

“Ah, man…this is just a ghost town, I just don’t know why Feral is so all uptight about it,” says Cole, scouting for tracks.

“Aha…you see, this is why girls should never be in the military…we were doing just fine until they put a little estrogen in the mix, and now we’re up to our elbows in an emotional cataclysm, that just won’t die!”

“Yea, but if it weren’t for Feral, we would be popsicles by now.”

Baird walked in silence, realizing that Cole had a point. If it weren’t for Raven’s insight, they would have most likely suffered from the unforgiving conditions that surrounded them.

Cole continued, “Besides…she’s just worried about ya.”

“Why in the hell is she worried about me…I don’t need to be worried over, I’ve been taking care of myself since I was seven years old, I don’t need some woman trying to nurture me with empathy, compassion, and all that other maternal crap...I get enough of that shit from Granny!”

“Did it ever occur to you that there are people in this shitty world that actually care about your sorry ass…and those don’t come often!”

“Oh come on, everyone hates me…Feral will figure it out, and when the shit hits the fan, you’ll see…she’ll hate me too!”

“Uh huh, well she’s a lot sweeter than what she puts out.”

“Ok, now what are you talking about…wait…what the hell did you two do last night?”

“Nothing…just talking.”

“For almost half an hour? C’mon, what did you do?”

“Why do you wanna know, mister “I don’t need anybody worrying over me”…”

“The hell Cole…whatever happened to “bros before hos,” man?”

“Tell you what, boy…she can be really sweet when she wants to…”

“Damnit Cole, are you gonna tell me or not?”

“Oooo…somebody’s getting jealous…”

“I’m not fucking jealous!”

“Yea you is…just cause some cute little girl wants to snuggle up with a real man…”

“Yea, right.”

“Hey, you know what they say…once you’ve had black, you never go back, heehee…instead of shacking up with the anal, angry white guy…”

“Screw you, man!”

“Haha…I knew it…you are jealous! I can’t wait to tell Boomer Lady when we get back!”

“If you even so much as sneeze about any of this to Bernie, I’ll kick your ass!”

“C’mon, Damon baby, make your Granny proud!”

“Whatever…”

“But just so you know…we really didn’t do anything. She just gave me a drink of water to help me sleep, and then chatted for a little bit.”

Baird sighed as he stops at the pavilion to look around. Cole stops beside him as he continues to talk.

“You relieved now?”

Baird continues to scan the area, finding nothing that would suggest an ambush, much less occupancy as he peers into the windows of the buildings.

“Somewhat…I don’t see any tracks, do you?”

“Nah...nothin.”

“They must have cleared out before the storm came through…they can’t handle the cold any more than we can…in any case, let’s go ahead and signal Vinny and Feral. I don’t see any threat here, but keep your eyes peeled anyway.”

“You got it…I’ll go get em.”

Cole ran back down the road as he looks up in Sven’s direction and waves his arms.

Sven pulls up his rifle as he turns to Raven,

”They gave us the ok to come down.”

“It’s anything but ok, Vin.”

“Well, I’m going down…” says Sven as he loads his rifle on his back and starts to make his way down the slope. Raven sighs to herself as she gets up and follows Sven, looking around as she inspects the road for tracks. They come down onto the road, moving through the snow until they reach the gravel curb.

“Gee…how long do think they place was deserted?”

“It wasn’t deserted Vin, it was invaded. If you look closely under the snow, you can see blast marks on the vehicles. These people attempted to defend but it was too late. The Locusts strategically took them down, swiftly.”

“How did you know?”

“I saw it.”

“Oh…”

Sven stopped asking questions as he saw Cole in sight and picked up the pace.

Raven followed behind while still looking around, hoping to find clues as to where the Locusts went, but so far nothing indicated otherwise. She didn’t like this at all.

“It’s clear, baby...everything seems to be ok,” says Cole while Sven and Raven move closer to his position. Raven turns to Cole.

“Then what is Baird doing, if everything is ok?”

“He’s just looking through the buildings…ya know, looking for anything they may have left behind…”

“Sigh…where is he?”

“In the house over there…” Cole points as he continues, “…watcha going to tell him?”

“He may need to know what actually happened here,” Raven says as she makes her way towards the house. Cole blurts out while she continues to walk.

“Don’t be too hard on him…hehe,” Cole yells out.

Raven waves from behind as she moves closer to the porch. Sven strides over to Cole as they watch Raven walk over to the building.

“Man, she’s going to chew him out, isn’t she” Sven ponders out loud.

“Probably…and he deserves every minute of it…but I still don’t see why she’s so moody about this place.”

“She said that this place was overrun by Locusts…and I guess they killed all the people here.”

“Shit…fucking grubs. Maybe we’ll get lucky and find a few, so we can blow them bitches back in their shithole.”

Making her way to the house, Raven notices the door was still open as she steps in, peering round the frame as the floor creaks with each step she takes. Ugh, good stealth skills there Ellie…you’d make a Gear proud…stupid wood floor! Widening her stances, Raven peers over to her left as she gets an eyeful of the interior.

It was a makeshift laboratory, inspecting the ores from the mine nearby. She moved in further, looking at the ore’s and rocks scattered on the tables and floor while the equipment, for the most part was untouched. Raven carefully picked up a piece of ore on the table as she carefully looks at it. It had odd scent that was not overwhelming, but subtle. A combination of an ozone and metallic aroma with a dirt-like odor ignited her senses. They were mining for metals.

Although she new there was a settlement here, she never knew what they were mining. She never came back since the Locust took it over. The memories of the incident still haunt her as she could still hear the screams, the children crying, the men shouting, and she was helpless to do anything about it. She hated it.

Baird peered over the balcony looking down at Raven as she was studying the vicinity, not noticing his presence, which was not like her. She must really be focused on something for her not to hear me. He finally broke the silence.

“What do you see?”

She whips around as if she was startled, and then suddenly puts the ore down as she looks back up at him.

“I was…just wondering what they were mining…”

“Metals…steel alloys mostly. This whole area is littered with them…I’m not entirely sure how long this place was taken over by the Locusts. They didn’t leave much behind to indicate otherwise.”

“They took over this place last Thaw. They killed everyone here.”

Baird observed her solemn expression while she turned around to look out the window as thoughts of the onslaught ran through her head. She often tried to forget about it but she couldn’t. It was embedded in her psyche forever, all the horrible images of people, slaughtered, desecrated, until she was suddenly distracted by Baird’s subtle voice.

“You saw what happened here?”

She hesitated for a moment, not really wanting to talk about it, but she felt she owed it to them if only somebody knew. Nobody new what happened here, and Feral have since stayed clear of the area.

“Yes…I did…but that’s not the worst of it,” Raven muttered.

Raven turned around to find Baird leaning against a wood pillar, his expression lenient and almost sympathetic, although Raven couldn’t really tell. She began to explain,

“They…were…flanked in all directions. It happened so fast, they didn’t have a chance…and I watched it happen, from a distance. I have never felt so helpless when…I saw one of them, throw a young child in a bond fire. I can still hear her scream, Damon.”

Raven’s eyes where restless as her glance moved between Baird and the rest of the room. She couldn’t focus on one thing for too long before she could give away her distressed expression. She didn’t like to be vulnerable and she certainly didn’t want to cry in front of anyone. But the voices, they wouldn’t go away, especially hers.

“They took the women, in chains…they, disemboweled the men and fed them to the Bloodmounts, while they burned the children.”

She choked the last few words as she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, collecting her thoughts while she composed herself and then turned to Baird,

“I do not trust this place. The Locusts used it for their outpost for almost a year and now suddenly, their gone…it makes no logical sense to me. I suggest we find some food and leave…this place is damned.”

She shook her head and started walking towards the door, walking past Baird until he gently grabbed her arm and slowly pulled her back to face him. Raven didn’t flinch or fight back. She was so entrenched into her thoughts, she didn’t even look up to face him.

“I need my tags,” he mentions as he pulled her thoughts back into the present. She looked down into her ammo pack and pulled both his and Cole’s COG tags out and held it up for him. He gazed into her eyes, trying to see through the windows into her conscience, wondering what was hiding behind them. Baird gently took the tags from her hand as he placed them over his head.

“Will you let me go now,” she requested glumly. She didn’t struggle or pull away, which surprised him. He gazed at her for a moment but then loosened his grip and let her go. She turned and walked out, isolating herself from the others.

The moment seemed awkward to him, as he couldn’t get her expression out of his head. He could tell that she was fighting back anguish but it was a side of her he didn’t understand. He probably didn’t want to know. He had seen so much death, so much despair in so many faces, over time it just hardened him to think of it. But the expression in Raven’s soft face was beyond words and comprehension for him. It weakened something in his subconscious that he had nothing to collaborate with to resist it.

He pushed his emotions aside as he normally does when he feels susceptible by it and finally started to walk out of the laboratory when he heard a faint sound coming from a distance. As he turned his head to peer through the town, opening his ears to the sound that he could not clearly elaborate. Raven was nowhere in site.

Baird looked across the street to see Cole and Sven loitering on the curb as the sound became more audible, but before Baird could make his way to Cole and Sven, it started to snow.

“Shit, this is going to make it harder to see,” he moaned as he picked up the pace to meet up with Cole and Sven.

“Whoe, did you hear that,” Sven said softly.

“Why are you whispering, Vin,” Baird nagged.

“Shhh, Damon…yea…I can hear that,” Cole said, moving around the other two to look down the road.

The faint noise sounded like an echoing thud, moving in a slow rhythm. The snow in the air covers their visibility as it starts to snow even harder, thickening the atmosphere around them. Cole stares down the long road as he tries to peer through the dense snow.

“We better get some cover…whatever it is, it sounds like it’s coming closer,” Cole suggests as Baird and Sven make their way to him.

“Guys, move into the storage barn…hurry,” Baird insists as they quickly move over into the barn further down the street, taking cover from the heavy snow. The three shake the snowflakes off of their armor as they pull out their weapons. Sven climbs up the ladder to the top of the barn to get a better look with his Longshot. He peers through the broken glass of a window, facing out towards the road.

Baird pulls out Cole’s tags,

“Here Gus,” Baird tosses them to Cole.

Sven then suddenly realized something, “Hey, where’s Feral?”

Cole and Baird looked up and then they looked at each other.

“Ah, shit…where did she go,” Cole moaned.

“She went around the town to look around…” Baird answered.

“Well, we need to go find her before whatever it is, comes rearin its ugly head around the corner.”

“Well then go find her, Cole!”

“WHOO, you know it!”

Cole gets up and steps outside in the heavy snow, moving toward the road. Suddenly, the noise becomes increasingly louder, as Sven can feel it rattling the barn.

“Oh, shit! Guys…”

“What is it Vin,” Baird gripes.

“Whatever it is, it’s big…I can see it in my scope.”

“What do you mean, big?”

Baird races up the ladder to Sven’s position as he sits next to him, peering through the window.

“I can’t see shit in this…Vinny give me your rifle,” Baird says as Sven gives him the Longshot.

Cole carefully moves around a snow, buried car parked right outside the barn as he looks over towards the road and sees a large black figure approaching them in the distance. The noise is suddenly broken with a large growl, piercing the vicinity as it rattles the buildings nearby.

“Ah, man…what the hell is that,” Sven whines as Baird peers through the scope, getting a better look at the menacing beast, slowly walking their direction as the lights glistened from the distance.

“Oh, fuck…BRUMAK, DAMON…IT”S A FUCKING BRUMAK,” Cole yells as he runs back over to the barn.

“Son of a bitch…Cole, you in here,” Baird shouts out.

“Yea…how many Locusts are with it?”

“Two on top…three that I saw walking along the side…” Baird says as he hops down the ladder with Sven following behind.

“…I believe they’re just scouting for food or supplies, otherwise they would have brought larger numbers.”

“Are you sure?”

“Hey, I’m just telling you what I saw…”

“Well, shit…that’s not very comforting, Baird!”

“What the hell is that,” Sven gripes, starting to panic.

“It’s a Brumak kid,” Cole says as the three hunker down into the barn, “…so now what do we do, we need more than just these Lancers to take that bitch down…and I don’t see any heavy artillery layin around.”

“I know, I know…and if we try to take out any of the Locusts, it will just alarm the Brumak to come after us…” Baird peers his head around the corner as he pulls his goggles over his eyes to see how far it was.

“Can’t we just hide until it passes,” Sven suggests

“No we can’t Vin…that thing has a keen sense of smell…that, and they’ll eventually find our tracks. The only reason it hasn’t sniffed us out yet is because of the cold."

“Oh, so we’re just screwed,” Sven rants.

“Yea, Vinny…we’re fucked!”

As the creature moved closer, it suddenly stops in its tracks, idling as the three Gears can see the lights glimmering from its armored helmet, rocking side to side as if it was trying to catch a scent. The Locusts on the ground start to move forward down the road, as the falling snow hides the Gears from their site.

“Ah, crap…the drones are coming in,” Cole gestures.

The scaled face drones walk slowly through the snow, peering with their deep-set eyes as they scan the streets with their nostrils twitching, searching for a scent. They come to a halt as if they could smell something peculiar, while the Brumak sits back as the rider holds the beast into position while the gunner sits and waits.

Suddenly, without warning, a massive array of flames erupted around the drones. The Gears watch in shock as they watch the drones shriek and holler from the rampant inferno, engulfing them. They couldn’t escape the napalm, splashed all over the vicinity, burning brightly.

“Damnit, Feral…” Baird yelled out.

The Brumak let’s out a deafening roar as it starts to get antsy while the rider tries to keep it under control from the sudden blaze. It turns to its right and suddenly fires the large canon, mounted on its back. The blast obliterated a building next to it as pieces of rubble and wood scatter in the air.

“RAVEN…FUCK,” Baird yells out as Cole suddenly takes off running towards the hotspot.

“FERAL…I’M COMING BABY…” Cole roars out, as he takes out his Lancer and fires the rounds at the screaming drones ahead. The three drones fall back onto the ground as the bullets impale their charring bodies.

“Vinny…give me your scope,” says Baird as Sven hands him his rifle. He gets a better look at the creature and notices something odd.

“Wait…it doesn’t have any gun turrets on the wrists…just the canon. If we can take out the gunner, we can at least keep it from firing the canon.”

Baird quickly gives the rifle back to Sven as he grabs him by the shoulder and runs back into the barn.

“Listen, Vinny…you need to get up there and take out that gunner, or else we’re all going to eat it…do you understand?”

“I…I got it, yea,” Sven blurts out.

“Then get your ass up there…I’m going to draw their fire!”

Sven quickly climbs up the ladder while Baird runs back out into the street.

Cole continues to run around the enormous flames as he finds cover from behind a car nearby. The Brumak starts to shift its direction away from the demolished house as it scans the street. Cole peers over the car to get a better look while the Brumak suddenly turns it’s gaze towards the commotion down the road ahead.

“HEY ASSHOLE…” Baird roars out, revving the chainsaw bayonet on his Lancer, drawing the creature’s attention.

Ah, Baird…what the hell are you up to now?

Cole looks back as Baird continues to scream at the beast, drawing it nearer to him.

“YEA, THAT”S RIGHT BITCH…I’M TALKING TO YOU!”

The napalm scattered in the street continues to burn while the Brumak tries to walk around the flames. With each step, Cole can feel the ground shake as the snow starts to slide off the car next to him. He then could hear a shell being loaded into the canon.

Damnit, Baird, you better move.

As the Brumak turns to face Baird’s direction, a shot rings out in the sky, startling the Brumak as it shakes it’s massive head, swerving from side to side. Cole looks around to see a drone fall off from the Brumak.

“Whoe shit…was that Vinny?” Cole mutters to himself.

Baird begins to shout as the creature steps back.

“SHIT, YEA…GOOD SHOT VINNY!”

Cole finally moves from his position as he points his Lancer directly at the rider, who was still trying to get the Brumak under control, and fires at him.

“Yea, it’s your turn now, Jackass!”

As rounds impale the rider, the Locust drops off to the side as his foot gets caught in the straps, letting him hang along the side of the Brumaks massive head. The Brumak starts to move in confusion as it begins to walk toward Cole’s direction.

“Uh, oh…time to go!”

Cole takes off running towards Baird as the massive beast pushes through the cars and debris scattered along the road, roaring with it’s rider, swinging on the side of it’s head.

“Ah, crap! Run Cole…move your ass,” Baird yells out as Sven runs out of the barn and darts out into the street to catch up with Baird.

“Ok…now what,” said Sven.

“Vinny, you need to get out of here…go back down the road,” Baird says, as Cole finally meets up to them.

“We need to move man,” Cole blurts out as the ground shakes underneath them from the Brumak’s heavy stride.

As three continue to stand out in the middle of the road, suddenly the sound of a roaring diesel engine revs into the background behind the houses. Out of the blue, a fuel truck drives through a wooden fence, knocking down a shed in it’s path as it swerves on the ice, turning onto it’s side and comes to a grinding stop directly in front of the Brumak, startling it.

“Holy shit, what’s up with that,” Sven shouts out as the three dodge behind the nearest cover along the side of the road.

Baird peers around the corner of a storage house as he sees the truck on its passenger side, with the engine still running. He starts to walk out towards the truck as he shouts out.

“Feral? Is that you?”

The door is swung open as he sees Raven trying to crawl out of the cabin.

“FERAL…GET DOWN,” Baird yells out as he proceeds to run back out into the street, trying to draw the Brumak’s attention away from the fallen vehicle.

“NO, OVER HERE…” Baird screams, waving his arms as the beast moves its head in his direction.

“YEA REMEMBER ME, SHITBAG?”

A roar rings through the air as the Brumak moves near the truck, focusing on Baird as he slowly moves back, keeping his distance. Raven moves over the toppled truck with crowbar in hand, jumping to the ground on the undercarriage side. She swings the crowbar and punctures a hole in the fuel tank, allowing the fuel to pour out onto the ground. She quickly times a Nape grenade and tosses it under the truck as she darts away from the vehicle, running towards the road yelling at Baird.

“MOVE, MOVE…get back!”

“Ah hell…what did you do Feral?”

She quickly runs towards him as she jumps on him, shoving him down into a summersault as the two roll into the snow.

“Feral, what the…”

“Keep your head down…”

Before Raven could finish her sentence, the grenade ignites the fuel underneath the truck as the flames rise into the tank. A massive explosion shoots high into the air as the Brumak is caught in its path, blowing it apart. Truck parts scatter as it flies into the air mixed with the meat parts and mangled metal. The sky starts to rain blood and metal shards while the fire, illuminates the debris strewn all over the vicinity.

Glistening in the afterglow of the fire ahead, the blood pours down, coloring the snow crimson as the commotion that stirred the ghost town goes mute. All that is left now is the silence after the disarray of a beautiful disaster.

Chapter 18: Beautiful Disaster
Entrails, mixed with metal debris lay scattered, blanketing the area within its circumference. The snow was inked with blood, seeping into pools as the crimson rain was settling down, leaving only a faint red mist.

Sven and Cole raise their heads from behind a car as they peer over into the bloody disarray ahead.

“Whoa…that was awesome,” Sven perks up.

“Damn…that’s a huge mess…I’m not cleaning that up,” Cole muses as he looks over to see where Baird was, yelling out,

“Hey Damon…Feral…you there baby?”

Towards the side of the street, Raven lays with her face down into the bloody snow, slowly lifting her head while Baird was resting on top of her, wiping the blood from his face. He turns over his shoulder to get a look at the mess behind them as he proceeds to pull his goggles onto his bloody forehead. He starts to cough, pushing out the blood that seeped into his mouth.

“Fuck…that’s the second time I had to cough up blood that isn’t mine, shit,” Baird rants in between coughs.

Raven spits out snow as she gags on the iron taste of the Brumak’s entrails.

“Ugh…gross,” she whimpers.

“Agh…there’s shit everywhere, Feral,” Baird whines as he tries to wipe the mess from his mouth and face. He looks down at Feral,

“You alright?”

“No, Damon…your weight is crushing me…” she groans. He carefully props himself up on his arms, lifting his weight as she tries to crawl out from under him. Feral drags herself across the crimson colored slush, pushing metal debris aside as she cringes from a sharp pain in her buttocks.

“Ah…shit, I think something got me…damn, it hurts like hell,” she grimaces in aggravation. Cole and Sven run over to their position, carefully trying not to slip on the crimson rubble, mangled with the soft tissue.

“Man, Feral…you need to warn us next time when you set up booby traps,” Cole griped, “…look at this shit…damn, it’s still rainin blood!”

She looked up at Cole as she tried to sit up.

“Ugh…well, I couldn’t give away your position. That Brumak would have taken out that barn for sure…that, and it took awhile to get the engine started, and what was up with you three standing out in the middle of the road with your thumbs up your ass, while the damn thing was coming after you?”

“Uh, well…” Sven started to explain while Baird cut him off.

“Don’t…answer that Vin…just…don’t even begin to try,” Baird groans, still coughing.

“Damn, Damon…you got Brumak shit all over ya,” Cole chuckled at Baird’s expense.

“Gah, you think,” Baird snaps back.

Baird continues to try and wipe off the entrails off of his head, not bothering to even look at the rest of himself. He finally turned over to sit up, using his arms to brace his torso up off the ground. He turned to look at Feral, who was still on her stomach, groaning.

“Ah, geez Feral…no wonder your miserable,” Baird says as he crawls over to her.

Sven walks over to where Feral was laying as he kneels down and takes a look at her wound.

“Oh, crap…she’s got something stuck in her ass.”

“It’s called shrapnel, kid,” said Baird as he sits up to get a better look at her lesion.

“Grrr, son of a bitch…don’t touch it,” Feral yells, flinching as Baird tried to move her loincloth.

“Don’t…move, Feral.”

He carefully moves the cloth to find a long piece of metal, hanging slightly into her cheek.

“Yep…looks like you got a piece of fender in your ass.”

“Well, don’t just sit there, admiring it, get that piece of shit out of me!”

Suddenly, the ground began to vibrate underneath them as the pools of blood began to ripple from the tremors.

“Ugh, what is that…damnit I can’t move,” Raven groans while Baird sits up, trying to listen. Cole and Sven look around, trying to peer through the crimson rain, falling all around them.

The ground shook underneath them as the snow began to fold from the seismic pulses, streaming around the area.

Baird started to get antsy, “…we need to move, now!”

“And go where?” Sven whined.

“Anywhere but here…shit, I say go for the chapel,” Cole blurted out.

“You got my vote…” said Baird as he quickly kneeled down to help Raven up, “…c’mon, Rav, we gotta go.”

Raven grimaced in pain as she let’s out a whimper,

“Grrrr, damnit Damon…I can’t move that well,” she barked.

Baird groaned as he quickly bent down, wrapped his arms around her legs and threw her over his shoulder as he stood up.

“C’mon, Damon…move,” said Cole.

“Working on it, Gus…hang on, Feral,” Baird griped as the three raced over towards the town chapel nearby, while the tremors began to worsen. Roadie running through the snow, they could hear a commotion as bullets began to ricochet across the parked vehicles nearby.

“Aw, crap…did you hear that?” Sven panicked.

“Shit…move, move,” Cole yelled out as he and Sven climbed up onto the chapel porch, while Baird grabbed cover behind a parked truck, nearby. Bullets flew all around them while Baird carefully dropped Raven on the ground, next the vehicle.

“Ugh, the fuck,” Baird yelled out, trying to keep his head down while unloading his Lancer. Raven grimaced form the pain as she tried to stable herself against the truck, pulling out her Gorgon pistol. Baird turns peers around the front fender, trying to make out something in the thick air as it snowed profusely.

The firing ceased for a moment, leaving the Gears on edge as they try to make out their attackers. Cole and Sven hung around the porch, looking out with weapons in hand. Sven loaded his rifle as he lifted it up and peered through the scope.

“You see anything?’ Cole nagged, getting irritated that whomever was shooting at them was nowhere to be seen.

“Nothing…shit, I can’t make out anything in this snow,” Sven griped, “….wait…I see movement.”

Sven peered carefully through his scope while trying to keep his cover at the same time. He suddenly noticed movement, closing in on them. Peering past the falling snow, he sees the flickering lights coming from Locust armor as they moved, their weapons glistening in the dim illumination from the overcast sky.

“Hey Cole…” Sven said quietly, “…I got em…they’re moving in.”

“How many?” asked Cole.

“Six…that I can count…maybe seven…but there’s something behind them…something, oh fuck.”

“What?”

“Aw, what the hell is that?”

“Gimme that,” said Cole as Sven handed him the rifle. Cole looks through the scope, seeing the Locusts take cover behind some parked vehicles down the road. Then, he saw it. Watching carefully, he sees the movement of eight large, arachnid legs.

“Oh, oh hell no...” Cole blurts out as he hands the Longshot back to Sven and starts to wave his hands, grabbing Baird’s attention.

“CORPSER…” Cole yells out, gesturing, while Baird tunes in, “…straight ahead.”

Baird pulls back behind the truck as he lifts his goggles off his eyes and on his forehead.

"How in the hell did a Corpser get out here?" Baird griped.

“What did Cole say?” Raven stammered while her buttocks started to throb from the sudden cardiovascular rush.

“A damn Corpser…I don’t suppose there’s another truck we can use to ram into it…”

“Not a working one…ugh…I was lucky to get that one working. Why is there a Corpser out here?”

"How the hell should I know?"

"Because YOU said that YOU knew everything!"

"Yea, well I haven't updated my database in a few days, OK?"

Suddenly, the Locusts resumed their fire. The Gears quickly take cover as the bullets ricochet around their vicinity.

“Ack…I’m getting tired of this shit!” Cole barked, aiming his Lancer and returns fire. Sven also takes aim but has difficulty making out the Locusts behind the vehicles, through falling snow. Baird also exchanged fire, but it was futile, not being able to see the enemy accurately.

A noise broke out as the ground started to shake again. The Corpser was moving, crawling over the Locusts cover and onto the road ahead.

“Aw…that doesn’t look good,” Sven yelled out as he could see the Corpser crawling over to their position. Cole looks out as Baird yells out,

“GET OUT…GO TO THE BACK OF THE CHURCH!”

“WHAT ABOUT YOU AND FERAL?” Cole yelled back, over the noise of the gunfire and the roaring Corpser.

‘WE’RE GOING BACK…THAT CORPSER CAN”T FOLLOW US BOTH!”

Cole nodded, realizing what Baird intended to do. Cole grabs Sven,

“C’mon, we gotta go!”

“Go…go where?”

“Just move, kid…I’ll explain later!”

Cole and Sven moved quickly through the chapel doors, running through the sanctuary as they crawled over into the pulpit and raced to the back entrance, behind the baptismal room. They exited through the door, back out into the cold wilderness as they run over to the corner of the building. They peer around the building, looking out as they could catch a glimpse of the Corpser moving.

Suddenly, an array of bullets race past them as they move back behind the building.

“Ah, shit,” yells Sven as they could see the Locusts flanking from the side. Cole returns fire with his lancer while Sven raises his rifle and takes a shot, lobotomizing a Cyclops as his head blasts off into a crimson mist.

“Shit, yea, Vinny,” Cole yells out as he takes out a Drone, stumbling backwards and into the heap of snow below. Two more move up, closing in on the Gears as they continued to fire their Hammerbursts.

Sven runs off to the side while reloading his rifle as he ran sideways, and then shoots a fatal shot in a Drone’s chest. The other Drone continues to move in, firing aimlessly, trying to aim and shoot in the falling snow. Cole moves around, taking advantage of the Drone’s limited sight as he flanks from a utility pole, taking out his Gnasher and shoots the Drone in close range, blowing off an arm. Screaming hideously, the Drone drops down on to the ground, clutching his arm while Cole moves in and swings the butt of his Gnasher across the Drone’s exposed head, knocking it sideways as the beast goes limp.

“WHOO…now that’s what I’m talking about,” Cole blurts his victory chant while Sven reunites with him, loading another round in his Longshot.

“Hoora,” Sven joined in as the two clamped fists. Suddenly, a roar rings out from the other side of the building.

“Aw…we gotta move to help Baird and Feral,” said Sven.

“This way, kid...we're going to flank that Corpser from behind,” said Cole as he took the lead towards the back of another building, going around the Corpser.

Meanwhile, Baird managed to carry Raven back to the laboratory while he takes cover in the balcony upstairs, firing at the Locusts below. Raven was sitting inside against the wall, trying to wrap her last napalm grenade around Baird’s Bolo grenade with duct tape, tightening the hold, hoping it will stay intact when swung into action.

“Ok, I got it, Damon,” she yells out over the gunfire. The building starts to shake as the Corpser was moving closer to the laboratory.

“Ok, Rav, we gotta move.”

“…Alright,” she responded, not getting excited about the idea of being picked up and carried again, but what choice did she have. Baird moved back inside as he loaded up his Lancer. He kneeled down while Raven handed him the grenade.

“Are you sure this will work…Corpsers have hardier hides than Brumaks.”

“Their underbelly is their weakest point…so we have to aim for that.”

“But that means we have to get close in.”

“Exactly…”

“Damon, I can’t get in fast enough to plant it and then move out.”

“Who said that you were going to do it?”

Raven’s eyes widened while Baird took the nades from her hand as he lifted her back up on her feet.

“Baird, you can’t get in close enough to throw it in before running out far enough to avoid the blast…you can’t do it without getting killed.”

“Well then, I guess that’s one less Gear you have to worry about now, isn’t it.”

“Ok, that’s not even close to fair!”

“You know what…your right, it’s not,” Baird mused, but before Raven could respond, he quickly lifts her over his shoulder and darts down the stairs, despite Raven’s ranting.

“Damnit, you bonehead…that grenade has a ten foot reach…are you even listening to me?”

“Shut up, Feral…you’re going to give away our position.”

Baird kicks down the back door as he roadie runs with Raven over his shoulder. Fortunately, she was pretty light so moving around quickly wasn’t very difficult, it was just moving fast through the snow that became problematic.

He quickly took refuge between a shed and a tireless bus, putting Raven back down as she cringed from the pain in her glute.

“Ugh…asshole,” she grumbled quietly.

“I’m sorry, did you say something?” Baird scoffed as he stood back up, peering around the bus.

"No."

“That’s what I thought,” he said as he looked back out. The Corpser was still moving towards the building as the Locusts where still firing in the same direction. Suddenly, Baird could hear the Locusts yelling.

“Behind us,” one of them growled out. Baird peered out to see Cole and Sven flanking from them from behind, across the road as they fired towards the Locusts, taking out three almost immediately. The other four took cover quickly as they bunched up in position.

“That’s my signal,” Baird blurted out as Raven looked up in shock.

“Wait…signal, for, what?” she demanded but Baird ignored her as he took off, running towards the Corpser.

“DAMNIT…BAIRD,” Raven yelled, trying to pull herself with her hands, pushing with one leg while dragging the other. Baird ran out, moving around the parked cars until he closed in, kneeling behind a horse trailer. He was close enough to see the Corpser’s belly as it stopped in its tracks, bellowing out while it started to turn around to see what the commotion was from behind.

Baird ducked back down, trying to stay out of it’s sight, using the trailer and falling snow for cover as the massive creature turned around, letting out a deafening roar, over the sounds of gunfire as Baird tried to cover his ears from the noise.

“Shit…shut the fuck up, willya,” he rants as the beast starts to move back towards the Locusts’ position. No, no…he wasn’t suppose to go back, damnit.

Cole returned fire towards the Locusts, until he saw the Corpser moving back to their position.

“Aw…DAMON, BABY, YOU BETTER HURRY THIS UP,” he yelled, hoping Baird could hear him over the deafening Corpser.

“Cole, it’s coming back,” Sven whined.

“I know, Vinny!”

Baird could tell that he had to act now while he still had some chance of success. He quickly pulled out the grenades as he darts out, moving behind the Corpser while swinging the duct-taped grenades on the chain and then throws it underneath the Corpser.

“FRAG OUT,” he yells.

“Shit, Vinny, get down,” Cole yells as he grabs Sven and they both go down.

Raven groans as she places her arms over her head, curling up behind the bus.

Baird jumps over a fence and rolls underneath a parked truck. The sound of detonation bursts out from the ground underneath the beast. The sudden pop from the Napalm grenade mixed with the loud boom from the Bolo grenade pierces the vicinity as the sky is split with a ringing. The Corpser let out a gurgling snarl, limping on one side that was tattered into bloody shreds. Leaning its weight on one side, the creature falls over, causing the ground to shake from the impact. The flames from the napalm, takes control as it consumes the Corpser, burning brightly.

Shimmering through the falling snow, Cole and Sven hoped over their cover as they races toward what was left of the Locust horde. Cole charged in, revving up his lancer as he spots the nearest Locust, still weary on the ground from the blast. Cole moves in, swinging his chainsaw bayonet as he rams in into the Locusts head, severing it into pieces as the skull collapsed from the impact.

The last two Locusts started to pick themselves up when another shot pierces the air, splitting through a Cyclops’ head. His blood splatters on his comrade next to him and then tumbles to the ground. The other Cyclops wipes the blood from his lens as he lifts his Lancer in Sven and Cole’s direction, when a shotgun blast rips into him, blowing off his waist as his bowls scatter across the snow, slumping to the ground. Baird moves in from behind with shotgun in hand as he takes a look at his masterpiece.

“Oh, I’m sorry…did that hurt?” he mocked, kicking the corpse a few times before Cole and Sven reunite with him.

“Where’s Feral?” Cole asked.

“She’s near the bus,” he says as he points, “…over there, c’mon.”

The three move quickly, taking a detour around the burning Corpser while pushing through the collecting snow, making the road even more difficult to follow. Raven was pulling herself along the curb and then comes to a stop as she leaned against a utility pole. She peered out to see the three Gears making their way to her location.

“Feral, baby…you alright?” Cole asked while Raven groaned,

“No, I’m not…this shrapnel is killing me. It hurts like hell!”

“Cole, I’ll need bandages or something to get this cleaned,” said Baird as he kneels down, trying to help Raven back on her feet.

“Damon, why don’t you take her to that house over there,” Cole suggested as he pointed to a small log cabin nearby, “…I’ll look around to see if there’s a med kit somewhere.”

Raven groaned as she tried to balance herself despite the sharp pain in her rear as Cole leaves the scene to search for medical supplies. Baird sighs as he looks up at Sven and Cole.

“Vinny, go see if you can find some alcohol, whisky, anything…meet me at the house.”

“Alright…where should I look,” Vinny asks.

“Try the fuel station, that’s where I would start.”

“Got it.”

Sven takes off while Baird carefully pulls raven’s arm over his shoulder.

“Look, Damon…I may be able to walk,”

“No, you can’t…and even if you could, I don’t have time for you to be limpin’ like an impotent mare on three legs.”

Raven’s face began to burn in fury, but before she could let even let out a single word, he quickly, kneels down and scoops her up, lifting her legs off the ground while she quickly clung around his neck to keep herself from falling off. Whimpering in pain, she closes her eyes and tightens her grip, putting pressure on Baird’s throat.

“Rav…your…choking me,” Baird grimaces as he tries to breathe.

“Ugh…sorry…it, just…hurts,” Raven cringes as she reluctantly loosens her grip, letting Damon breathe.

“We’re almost there…don’t pass out please…” he gripes.

“I’m not going to pass out,” Raven barks while Baird chuckles.

“Just…get me into the cabin, please,” Feral replies in pain as he carried her onto the porch, and carefully moves through the door, trying not to bump her legs along the doorframe and walks in. Raven grimaces from the pain as Baird walks into the next room and carefully puts her on her feet.

“Ok, let’s get you situated,” says Baird as he leads her to a bed, helping her lay on her stomach while she yelped from the fragment, aggravating her glute.

“Alright, now get this thing out of me” she demands.

“I need the medkit first and some alcohol to clean it, so will you relax,” Baird scoffs. Raven groans in pain as she grabs the nearest pillow and puts it over her head.

Suddenly, Cole walks in the house with several cases of medical supplies. “Hey, I found some, baby!”

“In here Cole,” Baird yells out from the door as Cole walks in and places the equipment on a vanity table.

“There’s lots of bandages in this one…and some stitches and iodine in this one.”

Baird removes his bloody chest armor and zips down his upper fatigues, leaving on his undershirt while freeing his arms and hands.

Just as Cole opens up the med boxes, Sven comes running in with a bottle of vodka and rice wine.

“Hey, I found some stuff…will this work?” Sven asks as he enters the room.

“Yea, that’s enough,” Baird moans as he pulls out several sheets from the dresser and proceeds to tear one. While Cole rummages through the med kit, Baird takes a sheet and wipes the blood from his face and pants. He then walks over and carefully wipes the blood from Raven’s backside.

“Alright, Rav…I’m going to have to cut into your pants,” Baird informs her. Raven removes the pillow from her head as she protests.

“I don’t want you touching my ass…get one of them to do it!”

Cole starts to chuckle, “Sorry Feral, but Baird is the better medic, baby.”

“Shit, I don’t know how fix a wound,” Sven joins in.

“Well watch and learn, Vinny.” says Baird as he picks up the bottle of vodka and opens it.

“So guess what, Feral,” Baird snickers in amusement.

Raven groans as she puts the pillow back over her head, mumbling to herself.

“Yea, I thinks she’s ready,” Cole chuckles as Baird proceeds to move her loincloth, as he carefully grabs the side of her hip to brace himself, gently lifting the tear around the shrapnel.

“DAMNIT…” Raven blurts out, flinching while grabbing the edge of the mattress as Cole quickly walks over.

“Shit…you’re going to have to hold her down Cole, she’s moving too much…and where’s the gloves,” Baird asks.

“What gloves?”

“I need latex gloves, Cole.”

“I didn’t see any.”

“Vinny, is there any gloves in those boxes?”

Sven rummages through the med box.

“Ah, sorry…I don’t see any,” Sven replies while Baird sighs as he ponders for a minute and then turns to Cole.

“Ok, give me your wallet.”

“What for?”

“Cole, will you just do it please…we don’t have a lot of time.”

“Alright, alright…shit!”

Cole pulls out his wallet from his pocket as he throws it over to Baird. Baird opens it up, rummaging through his cash, cards, and photos of some naked girls while Sven peers over his shoulder.

“Whoe…where’d you get those,” says Sven.

“Damn, Cole…you didn’t tell me about these,” Baird mentions as he turns them over to get a better look.

“Hehe, them just souvenirs,” Cole muses while Baird continues to look and finally pulls out a couple of packets of condoms.

“Hey, I need those,” Cole protests.

“Are you kidding me Cole, you haven’t had to use one of these in two years!”

Both Sven and Baird start to laugh.

“Yea, just keep laughing it up, assholes!”

Baird opens up the condoms and places them over his fingers while Raven gets impatient as she yells out.

“Whatever it is y’all are trying to do, will you hurry it up, please?”

“Now, now, don’t worry, I’ll have my hands embracing your ass in a minute, I promise,” Baird teases.

“Oh, shut up…and what the hell are you doing with those?”

“I thought you told me to shut up.”

Raven turns her head over and growls at Baird. Literally. The tone in his voice changes as he explains,

“Alright, look…I don’t have any latex gloves to keep your wound sanitized so I’m going to have to use the next best thing.”

“Whoe, seriously,” Sven beams while Raven starts to fume.

“Some fucking condoms?”

“These things are made out of latex too…they’ll do the job. It’s the best thing I have right now so deal with it!”

Raven shoves her head back under the pillow while she starts to growl.

“Hold on baby…it’ll only take a sec,” Cole assures her as he puts his arms around her upper body, holding her down as she yells back.

“A second my ass! The sooner you get this done, the sooner you get your paws off of my rear.”

“Damon…you better hurry this up,” Cole said as Baird manages to widen the tear in her pants.

“Alright…get ready Cole, I’m going to pull it out,” Baird warns as he pours vodka around the shrapnel. As the alcohol soaks into the gash, Feral fidgets intensely from the stinging pain as Cole carefully holds her down while trying not to crush her at the same time.

“Here we go…”

Baird places his hand on her cheek as he slowly removes the shrapnel from her buttocks. She clinches and fidgets at the same time, squinting and growling from the throbbing pain. He finally removes the shrapnel completely while Raven starts to relax.

“There we go…all better…well shit,” Baird muses.

“What, damnit,” Raven barks.

“It really wasn’t that deep…just two inches,”

“That’s deep enough…now will you patch it up, please!”

“Yea, yea…shit, your ornery when you’re hurt.”

Raven buries her head in the mattress as she groans from Baird pouring more vodka on her lesion.

“Ok, Vin, bring me the box with the stitches.”

“On it.”

“Rav, this is going to have to be stitched.”

“Ugh…I was afraid you were going to say that,” Raven whined as Baird takes a sheet and soaks up the blood, putting pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding. He could feel Raven tensing up.

“Feral, you need to relax, darlin.”

“Ugh…I’m trying!”

Sven pulls out some packaged needles and iodine while Cole gently loosens his hold on Raven. Baird opens up one of the sterilized needles and proceeds to tie a thread to it. He gently releases pressure from the wound to check to see if it stopped bleeding.

“Ok…I just need to wipe this down with iodine and I’ll get started sewing it up,” Baird announced as wipes the wound down with another sheet. Sven hands him the bottle of iodine while Baird opens it up and pours it around the lesion.

“Hey, Baird…how long will this take,” Cole asks.

“Probably no longer than fifteen minutes…it’s not that big of a cut.”

“We need to move out as soon as we get done…I bet you ten bucks more Locusts are going to come back, looking for their missing squads.”

“Sigh, agreed…go see if you can find something that we can take to eat on the run. Vinny, go with him.”

“You got it…come on Vin.”

“Alright, comin,” Sven acknowledges as he puts the bottle of iodine on the dresser and follows Cole out of the room. Baird sits up for a moment, moving his neck as he slightly induces a subluxed vertebra back into alignment by rolling his head to one side. He moans as it pops back into place, feeling the release in tension in his shoulders as he slowly rolls his head to stimulate circulation.

After spending the past half hour running around, dodging exploding tankers and rolling on the ground form grenades, Baird’s body was feeling the strain. He then leans back down to begin stitching the gash in Raven’s rear.

Remaining motionless, she drifts into a trance, not making any attempts to converse as she takes in deep breaths and slowly exhales, releasing the tension from her body, trying to forget about the numbing sensation in her buttocks. She was fatigued and Baird could sense it from her arched back as he proceeded to stitch up her wound. She didn’t flinch as he gently touched her skin, pushing the needle in and through, closing the wound. As he sewed it up, she let’s out a long sigh as if she was going to say something. Baird looked up as if he anticipated her to speak, but instead, she just closed her eyes and coasts into a daze.

He looks back down and continues to work, but the mood becomes awkward for him as his mind begins to meander while he gently presses her soft bare skin, realizing that he probably needed to keep his mind occupied before he becomes completely distracted. He starts to converse.

“Alright, what are you thinking about.”

She hesitates at first and then answers him.

“Nothing.”

“Oh, please, Raven…you may be good at surviving but you’re a bad liar.”

“It’s nothing personal that concerns you.”

“Well then what’s the problem…if it’s not that big of a deal?”

“I don’t feel like talking about it, Baird.”

“Well your going to have to talk about something because I need to know if you’re still coherent.”

“What do you mean?”

“You lost a bit of blood…you probably feel woozy by now.”

“Yea...I do…and your point is?”

“We can’t stay here for too long, so you’re going to have to suck it up. I’m hoping Cole will find something for you to eat, your going to need it…speaking of which, is there any place we can to for the night?”

“There is a place that we can stay the night from the cold, but there is no food stock piled there…we’ll have to either find something, or hunt something.”

Baird finishes up as he tears the thread with his teeth and wipes up the stitches with a cloth.

“Crap…well, hopefully the guys will find something that we can eat along the way.”

Raven buries her head back into the pillow, groaning. She’s had gashes before but never stitches. She started to relax while Baird finished up as he carefully places his hand on her tailbone while he rubs more vodka on her exposed rear.

Raven tenses up from the sting.

“You ok, Feral?”

“Ugh…yea…it just stings”

“We’re almost done, shit…you can’t handle alot of pain, can you,"

“How would you like it if somebody shoved something up your ass?”

Baird lets out a grin as he turns over her shoulder,

“I don’t know…that actually sounds kinda erotic…gee, Rav, I didn’t know you had it in you. Maybe all that training is finally coming out.”

“You know what…I’m just not going to talk to you for the rest of the day,”

Baird starts to laugh, “Oh, and why not?”

“You’re giving me a headache,” Raven groaned, lying her head back on the pillow, closing her eyes.

“Yea…you definitely need to eat something.”

Baird smirks as he finishes up cleaning the wound while a thought starts to fester in his head. Entertaining the notion of teasing her some more, he throws the sheet onto the rest of the pile while he turns over and carefully prostrates himself over her lower body as he lowers his head over the wound and kisses her exposed cheek. Raven could feel something odd touching her skin, sending a shockwave up her spine, not realizing what just happened until she took the pillow off of her head.

She turned her head over her shoulder, watching him lift his lips from her rear as he grinned. Despite her condition, She could have easily mule kicked him from where he was sitting, but something compelled her not to.

“What the hell was that for?” she sneered.

“Well…now you can’t say I don’t ever kiss your ass.”

Chapter 19: The Iridescent Snow
The sun began to set and the colors of the sky unfold into a winter manifestation so scenic, it bleached the white ground into an iridescence of many colors.

As Sigma squad continued to trek in the cover of the woods, they could peer outside to see the glistening snow, as if the meadow was immersed in petroleum. They walk through the snow, covered thicket, brushing along the branches as they come to the edge of the woods gazing at the foggy mountain.

Raven was not ahead of the pack this time, trying to come out of her anemic weariness as she nibbled on some trail mix, filled with nuts, dried fruit, and cereal flakes. Cole and Sven where doing the same, picking in their plastic bags, full of nuts and potato chips, while Baird was leading the pack, looking ahead just outside the forest.

“Well…Feral, the area looks clear,” he motions as she moved up to the front to get a better look, wrapped in a sash and blanket. She peers out towards the open area, looking for tracks but saw nothing that would indicate a Locust outpost.

“Maybe they took refuge into the mines,” Raven wondered while shivering.

“Yea, that’s what I’m guessing.”

“There was an outpost on the edge of the woods over there…” Raven pointed in the direction of a forest on the other side of the hill.

“…but they too may have taken refuge in the mines. There’s no other means of shelter in this area.”

Cole and Sven moved up as they tried to gather what they were saying.

“Are you sure the outpost is empty,” Cole asked impatiently, still bundled in a blanket.

“No, I am not sure…which is why we may have to check it out,” Raven answers as she turns to Baird.

Damon looked up at Cole as the two got the drift that they would have to go investigate it themselves, trekking through the cold while leaving Sven and Raven behind, just in case they did find something. They were really starting to hate this part of the job, especially in the damn cold.

It has been nearly three days since they started this mission, one that should have only taken one day. All four we’re getting pretty weary of the cold, which seems to be worsening as the long nights came and the short days go.

Although Baird seemed to be handling the cold better than the others, despite his constant whining about it, he too was getting pretty weary from it. He was mostly annoyed of the fact that they have had to procrastinate, throwing everything they we’re supposed to be doing completely on the back burner just in order to stay alive. Baird was not one to give anyone credit for much but he had to admit to himself, indeed, if it weren’t for Raven, they would have not lasted as long as they have. I’ll need to write a note to remind me to ask Hoffman to give Rav a gift certificate for free coffee and donuts for a month, or something.

Cole groaned as he shook the snow from the blanket wrapped around his arms. His charisma was put on limbo for the moment and started to move forward without complaint, but you could tell he was still loathing it. Baird did the same as he turned to Sven and Raven,

“Stay here…we’ll let ya know if somethin’s up.”

Raven didn’t argue this time. She knew Baird and Cole didn’t want to do this anymore than she wanted to stay behind, while Sven second the motion. The feelings among the four were becoming a lot more mutual this time around. Although, it was few in between that anyone agreed with Baird on anything, they were in total agreement on him with this one, and that was that the whole thing really sucked balls. Hey, somebody had to say it.

As Cole and Baird took out their Gnashers, Raven gently grabbed Baird by his arm before he stepped out,

“Listen…” she said in between shivers, “they may still be using the forest as a fort, so you and Gus will need to be extra careful when you go in.”

“Yea, Feral, we’ve done this shit before…” Baird replies as he turns his focus between the forest and Raven.

He responds sarcastically“…but thank you for your concern…gee, you’re in a much better mood than you were earlier.”

Raven sighed, “Look…I’m sorry I was difficult before, ok…it’s just…”

“Oh for God sake, don’t start apologizing, Rav…this is what Gears do…and besides...you can make it up to me later.” Baird smirked, while Raven’s expression drooped into a sarcastic gloom, letting go of his arm and gesturing,

“You can go now,” she snorted. Baird chuckled to himself as he joined Cole.

The two Gears moved out into the open while Raven and Sven slumped into the thicket, keeping their coverings fastened to avoid the cold seeping in. Raven finished up her “take-out” food, feeling a little better but still for the most part, fatigued while Sven slouched in his spot, moving his hands up and down his legs, trying to keep them warm. They were just as miserable as Cole and Baird were.

Raven drifted into her thoughts, trying not to dwell on the numbness on her bum. Although the bandages offered some warmth, sitting in the snow offered no comfort whatsoever, and yet, despite not being able to have any feeling in her frozen ass, she could still feel the stitched gash.

It was then that it suddenly dawned on her, why is Sven so quiet? It was not like Sven to just sit and be quiet. He must be really miserable. Sven was already getting impatient as the day was almost done and they have yet to find a place to stay for the night before the cold worsens. Shivering next to Raven, Sven finally started to rant,

“Aw,man…how long are we going to have to do this…sit and wait, hike and wait…sit some more…”

Sven rambles on while Raven rolled her eyes, letting it go through one ear out the other. Ugh, I spoke too soon. She was hoping that the outpost would be deserted so she can finally take them to the place she intends for them to stay the night, but Sven’s whining was quickly getting irritating. She finally had to cut in,

“Alright, enough Vin…you’re really starting to sound like Baird.”

Before Sven could put his foot in his mouth, he catches himself as he sits and ponders. Holy crap, I am starting to sound like the Corporal! Sven slumps further as he sighs, grumping from the bitter cold. Raven tries to sit as comfortably as she can, but the stitches in her glute was making it difficult for her to get comfortable. Both of them were fidgety, with Raven trying not to sit directly on her wound and Sven crossing his legs trying to keep his bladder from exploding.

“Damnit, Vin…why can’t you hold still…wait a minute…you’re doing the peepee dance, aren’t you!”

Sven grumbles in misery, “Yes…I really need to take a piss…”

“Well then go out and piss…geez Vin, instead of sitting here squirming like a little girl, holding herself.”

“But it’s cold…do you know what it feels like for a guy to have to whip it out and piss in the cold?”

“Sigh…can’t say that I have,”

“It’s worse than sitting on a cold toilet seat…it sucks!”

Raven finally gets irritated as she orders him,

“Get up…go out and take a piss, please…”

Sven groans, “…alright, alright…shit!”

He gets up, shivering more than ever and starts to walk back into the thicket, moving a ways before he finds a wide tree, big enough stand behind for some privacy, not that it was going to really matter since the cold shrunk his winky down into a little nubbin. As he unzips his pants, the cold air rushes around his male bits, making him shudder as he grabs his crotch with both hands, trying to shield his testicles from the bitter cold.

Sven starts to mumble to himself, “Ah, fuck! I hate this part, ugh…”

He manages to barely muster some strength to force himself to finally urinate. He groans while his bladder was finally released from the obnoxious pressure he had to endure for the past thirty minutes. Basking from the warm sensation coming from his urethra, he leans his head against the tree, feeling relieved, at last.

“Ah…that is soo much better…” he moans as he closes his eyes while still urinating until he pushes himself to drive it all out, down to the last drop. He did not want to have to do this again any time soon.

His body stops shivering as he finally relaxes, savoring the moment as much as he could before he has to go back and sit in the snow some more. Yuck! As his head was still leaning on the tree, his ears begin to catch a faint noise deep within the forest. Opening his eyes he looks around with his peripheral vision, not moving or twitching, trying to focus on the noise coming from the distance.

Maybe it’s just Feral…wait, why would she come out here? Sven begins to analyze the possibilities in his head as the faint noise became more audible. Ok, now there is something definitely moving back there. He slowly moves his head off of the tree, trying to open up his ears to listen carefully, hoping whatever it was would either not notice his presence or just casually pass by. Wait, can Feral hear it?

His adrenaline pulses through his body, as his heart rate picked up the pace, pushing the hormone more potently. He slowly drops his hand to his pistol holster, quietly lifting the flap on the pistol stock while carefully sliding it out, not realizing the obvious as the cold air filtrates through his pants again. Ah, shit, my dick is still hanging out!

But before he could remedy the situation, something huge moved right out of the thicket as it casually moved almost right in front of Sven, causing him to scream,

“FUCK!”

Raven was startled by the scream, quickly trying to get up to go find Sven as she pulls out her pistols, shaking off the snow while attempting to run through the thicket at the same time. She dodges around the trees as she hears the shattering sound of gunfire and growling.

Oh God, what was that?

Raven comes to a complete stop peering into the woods as the noise dissipated in silence. Moving her head, she scans the area looking for Sven’s trail, when suddenly Sven jumps out of nowhere, running as fast as he could muster while holding himself at the same time with one hand, and holding a pistol in the other, shouting,

“LOCUSTS!”

He nearly runs over Raven as he grazes right passed her, grabbing her arm and trying to pull her back the other direction.

“MOVE, HURRY!”

“What the hell, Vin…” Raven blurted out but Sven was inevitably pulling her with him as the two run through the forest, pummeling through the branches and pine needles along the way. As they run, the sound of gunshots and ricochet, screams past them as they both dive into the ground, stirring up the snow and forest foliage around them. They slam up against a tree as they both turn on opposite sides, looking for their pursuers.

“Oh shit, oh shit,” Sven whispers to himself while Raven quietly, immediately shushes him.

“Shut up, Vin…be still!”

The footsteps could be heard as the growling became more familiar. Sven quickly darts his head back behind the tree, trying to stay calm.

“Fuck, they got some big guy with a machete’ and three Grenadiers,” Sven whispers as they could hear the Butcher ahead of the pack, breathing heavily as it slowly pushes through the thicket, having trouble moving through it.

Raven cautiously peers around the tree as she turns to look at the massive beast, chopping at the brush with his enormous cleaver. The Grenadiers came up from behind with shotguns in hand, waiting for the Butcher to cut them a more mobile trail.

“They must be hunting for food…” Raven whispers while Sven was trying to zip up his pants up with his cold hands

Raven knew they could not stay in their spot, the Butcher would sniff them out for sure.

“Ugh, we can’t stay here, we have to move…Sven, do you have any nades,” Raven asks.

“Just this smoker.”

“That’ll do...let me see it.”

Sven quickly hands it over to Raven as she peers around the tree, watching the Mauler still hacking at the brush while the Grenadiers push it along. She carefully swings the nade right over the brush until it landed somewhere right behind the Mauler. The smoke grenade goes off, throwing the Grenadiers a few steps back while the heavy, dense smoke blinding the vicinity around them.

“Let’s go, Vin, hurry,” Raven pushes him as he finally moves away with Raven following behind. They could hear the massive Butcher coughing heavily as it blurts out with it’s gurgling voice,

“Landwalker gone…”

Leaving the scene, Sven and Raven push through the thicket until they finally make their way out into the open.

“Aw shit…where do we go now,” Sven griped while Raven looked around to see where they where, turning to the direction of the Locust outpost.

“This way Sven…we need to find the others!”

She grabs him by the arm as the two haul ass before the Locusts behind them catch up out into the open. Not looking back, Raven picks up the pace through the thick snow as she lifts her knees up, almost galloping while Sven attempts to do the same, still clutching his crotch with one hand and carrying a pistol in the other.

Suddenly, a load roar echoes from behind.

“Oh, shit,” Sven panics while running and zipping up his pants as the same time.

“Keep moving, Vinny…don’t stop, we can make it to the woods ahead,” Raven persists as she slows down to come up behind Sven and pushes him from behind.

“Landwalkers…” the beast bellows out as the massive Butcher steps out of the woods and peering through the dense snow with Sven and Raven barely in view. The three Grenadiers were not too far behind as they too enter into the open area and continue moving after them. Raven manages to move Sven into the woods as they both brush up behind the trees. Sven pulls out his sniper rifle as he peers into the scope, trying to catch a glimpse of one of the Grenadiers moving through the falling snow.

“Can you get a visual, Vin,” Raven asks.

“Barely…” he says, moving to the side to get a clearer shot.

“…just…a little closer,”

Sven fires a round, knocking the front Grenadier backwards as it clutches the jugular of its neck, bleeding profusely. It squirms on the ground, hacking and hemorrhaging as the other two take cover in the snow.

“Hoorah…” Sven beams as he puts in another round but ends up jamming it.

“Ah, shit…c’mon!”

Raven notices that his gun was too cold to load it quickly, watching Sven trying to pull out the old shell still jammed in the chamber. She pulls out her Gorgon pistol, loading up the magazines as she peers through the trees, but before she could even fire a round, one of the Granadiers stands up and starts to fire his Gnasher in their direction.

“Damnit,” Raven yells, pulling back into the woods as the stray shots fly by aimlessly. They were still too far away for the Grenadiers to shoot at them more efficiently but as the other one runs out of ammo, the other strategically covers fire with a fresh clip, making counter fire almost unfeasible.

“Son of a bitch…Sven, do have a round in yet,” Raven yells out, hoping that Sven would have it fixed by now, but considering the circumstances that may be asking much.

“Agh…I can’t get the damn shell out, it’s as if the chamber shrank…fucking cold weather,” Sven complains.

Raven groans as she finally peers through the woods, hoping not to take a hit as she glances around the trees and fires her Gorgon pistol, alternating around the tree in between bursts.

She manages to hit one Grenadier, but not enough to knock it fatally. Growling in fury, the Grenadier proceeds to move forward while firing it’s Gnasher shotgun, closing into their position.

“Oh God…get ready Vin…he’s coming in…” Raven warns.

“Wait, what,” Sven panics, finally giving up on loading his rifle while he throws the shell on the ground and moves over across from Raven, waiting for the Grenadier to enter the woods. The Grenadier moves in quickly, wasting no time as he fires his last round right before he enters the thicket.

Moving in he turns around to find Raven pointing her Boltok at him and firing, but she accidentally stumbles over something on the ground as the shot just grazes the Grenadier over the shoulder while he flinched back, grabbing the tree next to him to keep from falling backwards. The Locust glares at her with his menacing eyes, snarling at her as his thick scaly face grimaces at the little human who took a shot at him.

“Puny female…I’ll break your little neck” it sneers moving closer while Raven manages to climb up into the broken tree trunks near a cluster of boulders and moves up quickly without effort before the Locust could clutch her, evading him and slipping from his massive grasp. He was nearly three times her size and slightly bigger than the average Gear, not to mention he had a devastating right hook as he tries to melee through the branches after her. He attempts to climb, but he was too heavy to balance on the branches properly.

Without warning, Sven comes charging out, yelling as he swings his Longshot, plummeting it across the Grenadiers head, knocking him sideways.

“Yea, take that, bitch,” Sven yells.

The Grenadier tries to pull himself backup as he shakes his head from the contact but he falls back down while Sven proceeds to pull his rifle up over his head and drops it quickly onto the Grenadiers head, finishing the job at last.

“Feral…” Sven calls out as Raven peers over the top boulder.

“Sven…move away now…the other one is coming,”

“Shit,” Sven says as he moves back further into the woods and notices the other Grenadier just outside the forest when a gunshot rings out into the horizon. The Grenadier’s skull craters as a part of his head shoots off from the side and the body topples over, sliding across the snow near the edge of the forest.

Sven carefully peers around, as he looks out, perplexed as to where that shot came from.

“Hey, Feral…did you do that?”

“No, Vin…I didn’t,” Raven answers in a dreary tone. Just then, a couple more shots echo out into the frosty air as the snow continues to fall, not the least fazed by the sound of gunfire from a distance.

Raven climbs back down and makes her way to Vin, trying not to make too much noise as she peers out from their position, but the snow made visibility impossible.

“Maybe it’s Cole and Baird…maybe they heard us…” Sven says.

“No Vin…they don’t have rifles…just…stay quiet for a moment.”

“Uh…ok.”

The two move carefully near the edge of the woods, looking out from where they just came. They could barely see the Butcher, whom was lying in the snow, motionless.

“Alright, I know we didn’t kill him,” Sven observes while Raven ponders, so who did if we didn’t?

Just after Sven openly spoke his mind, Raven slowly stood up, putting her pistol back into the holster. She started to speak to Sven while peering out of the woods.

“Whatever you do Vinny…don’t make any sudden moves, don’t raise your weapon or arms…”

Raven continues to talk as if she was petrified, not making any gestures of any kind as if she was looking into the eyes of the devil himself, but it was the next sequence of her mellow words that made him nervous the most.

“…and do exactly as I tell you, if you want to survive this.”

Chapter 20: The Harpies
The sun was descending behind the mountains, the afterglow mingling in the woods as Cole and Baird ran around the brush, darting through the thicket, hurrying to find the commotion coming from the wilderness ahead of them.

They spent the past thirty minutes looking around of what apparently was once a Locust outpost, now long abandoned. Nothing was left of it, no ammunitions, no troika’s, just a map of sandbags, covered in heaps of snow. But the sound of gunshots from the distance directed their attention back to where they left Sven and Raven.

Cole finally had to stop as he halts next to a tree on the outskirt of the forest, clutching a nearby boulder to hold himself up as he panted. Baird came up and joined him, also prostrating himself along a neighboring rock, looking out into the empty space outside of the woods. Cole couldn’t stay silent for too long before he started to worry.

“Aw, man…I hope that wasn’t coming from Vinny and Feral,” Cole mumbled.

Baird turned to look at Gus and then turned his gaze back out into the open.

Still looking out, Baird responds to Cole,

“I don’t see anything out there…we’ll have to trek back to where we left them…to see if we can find a trail before the snow covers it.”

Cole gives Baird a nod as he catches his breath and proceeds out of the woods into the open field of snow. Baird follows close behind, moving along while the two Gears move as quickly as their legs could take them in knee-deep snow. Pushing through the terrain, they could feel the snow seeping into their fatigues again, adding more weight to their legs. It was bad enough that the cold air made it the more difficult to breath as it is.

Coming to the middle of the open area, Cole comes to a halt as he looks out to the side of what appears to be several trails heading into another wooded area to the right of the one they left Sven and Feral at. Baird moves his way up as he too glares at the tracks.

“Son of bitch,” Baird blurts out, moving ahead of Cole to get a better look. Cole didn’t move as he just stood there, sulking, thinking the worst while Baird moves up to analyze the footprints.

Baird turns his head over his shoulder,

“They went this way…they were being followed, Gus,” said Baird, not mincing words but choosing them carefully, knowing that Cole was worried out of his mind right now. Baird turned back towards the area Raven and Sven were retreating at. He continues to follow the trail as Cole moves behind him, keeping up at Baird’s pace, moving down on the incline. Baird moves along until he sees something partially buried in the snow. Oh, God, no.

Baird picks up the pace while Cole slows down, letting Baird get ahead as he watches him slow down and stops to kneel, brushing the snow from what appears to be a corpse. He didn’t want to know whom it was, laying out there, but at the same time he was hanging on the edge of sanity, observing Baird’s mannerisms carefully, to see if it was ok to come over there or not.

Baird stood back up as he turned to Cole, motioning him to come over as a great weight lifted off of Cole’s shoulder’s, freeing him from that brief moment of anxiety that seemed like an eternity. Cole moved quickly to join Baird, glancing at the object in the snow, noticing the familiar scaly hide of a Grenadier, Locust. His heart started to sink, wondering if there where other Locusts following Raven and Sven. Cole takes a look at the corpse, noticing the jugular in its neck exposed.

“It was shot by a Longshot, no doubt,” Baird informed him, looking at the gaping hole on the back of its neck. Baird held out the bullet he found near the corpse.

“Vinny must have shot him from the wooded area, but why so close,” Cole pondered in puzzlement while Baird continue,

“He probably couldn’t see that well…I mean look at it now, I’m having a hard time making out the area from here, he probably had to wait. Shit, I’m surprised he managed to clock him from this range…I gotta hand it to the kid, he’s getting pretty good with that thing.”

Baird got up as he looks ahead, noticing another Grenadier corpse nearby.

“Hey Cole…there’s another one, over there,” Baird says out loud.

“Oh, yea…I see it,” Cole confirms as he follows Baird over to the other carcass. Baird kneels down as he looks carefully at the Grenadiers caved in skull, folded under by some high caliber weapon. A Longshot maybe, definitely some sort of rifle.

“Damn, that kid was on a roll,” Cole beamed.

“Yea I’d give him credit for it if he actually did it, but he didn’t.”

“Say what?”

“The trajectory of the bullet didn’t come from the woods ahead…it came from somewhere back there,” said Baird, pointing behind them from the forest further up the hill.

“How can you tell,” asked Cole, watching Baird pick up the bone fragments from the snow.

“Look at the direction of the bone fragments and blood splatter…it’s impact came from the back of it’s head, not the front.”

“Holy shit, you’re right.”

Looking more closely, Cole could still see the blood not entirely veiled in the snow. Baird stood up while putting the bone fragments he collected, into his pocket while he steps around the body and proceeds towards the woods ahead, with Cole not far behind.

They followed a set of tracks into the forest, seeing that some of the brush was recently trailed through, with some of the limbs bent and broken, as if someone forced an entry. Baird carefully entered first into the thicket as he looked down, occasionally looking up to see if it was still clear. Cole followed close behind, moving along the side of Baird, noticing the tracks divided to each side.

As Baird looked down, he noticed a faint pool of blood not too far from his feet as he pulled away trying not to step on it before he realized something lukewarm was dripping on his head. He slowly looked up to the source of the liquid dropping on his head as his eyes widened in horror,

“Oh, fuck me,” Baird swallows as he takes a few steps back, feeling the drops rolling on the side of his face.

Cole turned around to look up as he blurted out in revulsion,

“Ahhh, man…what the fuck is that,” Cole whined as his stomach started to turn, feeling the nausea creeping up.

Slowly moving backwards while still looking up, Baird reaches his hand on his face as he wipes the droplets from his face and looks into his hand. It was blood. Damon starts to cough as he bends down, trying to control his compulsions as he spits on the ground while groaning. Cole rushes over, dragging Baird back by his shoulders, trying to pull him up as the two look at the horrible scene above them.

It was a Locust Grenadier, hung from the tree upside down, it’s intestinal bowls tied around its neck while it’s genitals were apparently removed and shoved into its mouth, along with its heart. The chest of the beast was removed completely, leaving only an empty cavity while its skin from its torso was stretched from side to side, pulled apart with ropes tied from opposite limbs. Its arms were completely severed, cut cleanly either with a sharpened saw or some sort of sharp metal object, similar to a sword perhaps. In either case, whomever did this had experience and paid attention to detail, not to mention proficiency. This was not the work of some drunken hoodlums, just out having fun, this was the work of either of a professional or a masochist.

As Baird composes himself, he carefully looks around at the disturbing scene, trying to make sense of the trails underneath the hanging cadaver, but there was too much activity to make out what all that happened there. The ground was littered with footprints, blood splatter as well as pockets of blood glistening against a boulder nearby. Baird starts to rant, out of aggravation,

“Ok…I can’t make any sense of what happened here, what happened first…or last for that matter…and it’s getting too fucking dark and too fucking cold for me to just sit here and figure all this out!”

“Uh Damon…” Cole says quietly while Baird ignores him and continues to rant,

“…furthermore, there is no way I can find Sven or Rav’s trail…”

“Damon, hey…”

“…and I’m not…”

“BAIRD…LOOK UP, SHITHEAD,” Cole finally yanks Baird’s attention at the present as Baird finally looks up.

They we’re surrounded, with weapons pointed directly at them. Baird dropped his jaw while Cole just stood there frozen, not realizing until now that they were being watched almost the entire time they were there. The dark figures in the woods glared at the two Gears, their eyes hidden from them as their attire bended into the snow, ridden forest around them. Their weapons, mostly shotguns and Hammerbursts, glistened in the partial light stemming from the setting sun that seeped through the trees.

Although the Gears have fought against overwhelming odds before, these were not Locusts, nor Stranded. With just the slightest slip of a finger, Cole and Baird may as well serve their testicles on a silver platter, knowing full well that these people can and will do it without second guessing. They’ve done it before, and they can do it again.

Though Cole wanted to react, he looked to Baird for guidance as the two exchanged glances, trying not to make any sudden movements, and then glared back at their predicament. The armor and weaponry of their captors was not all too dissimilar to the Locusts, but the figures’ shape and demeanor was all too familiar. They are the Feral.

Chapter 21: Marching Into Darkness
I was born amidst the purple waterfalls.

I was weak, yet not unblessed.

''Dead to the world. Alive for the journey.''

One night I dreamt a white rose withering,

A newborn drowning a lifetime loneliness.

''I dreamt all my future. Relived my past.''

And witnessed the beauty of the beast"

Nightfall

Bless The Child

Lights from the night sky lit up a pathway between two dense forests, winding as if the trail was once, intentionally bulldozed to lead to some sort of small settlement nearby. The moon hung high and bright, as it’s light guided the band of Feral scouts, pacing along comfortably in the bitter cold.

They escort the two Gears into what was once some small mission settlement, made up of only two log buildings and a church of sorts, made of rocks, wood, and clay. The Feral clan apparently found refuge here for the time being as campfires glistened around tents made of animal hide. The sounds of singers, Raven referred to as “Sirens,” could be heard subtly outside the campsite, their melodies in harmony from one end of the campsite to another. The song was soothing, and surprisingly angelic as the soprano, in time with the contralto, gave the Gears chills with their strenuous chords. Such a beautiful thing has long since been missing for a long time to the ears of some war-hardened men, to hear the velvet, exotic voices of women.

Baird and Cole followed them willingly, in hopes that the Feral may have information on the whereabouts of their missing comrades. If the Feral wanted to kill them, they would have done it already, instead of going through the effort of escorting them back to their camp. If anything, Baird and Cole hoped that they would at least know where Raven was.

As the scouts lead the two Gears into the camp, the women became alert as some have moved the children inside the buildings while the clan’s “praetorians” continued to stand guard from multiple, strategic sites around the camp.

Baird quickly noticed the “classes,” of the clan, as he observed the differences between what he believed to be the “soldiers” and the “breeders.” The scouts themselves wore dressings similar to Raven’s, Locust materials made of thick hides while wearing cloaks and sashes around their heads to hide their faces and probably to protect them from the cold.

The mood that hung in the atmosphere varied as Baird looked to observe the women, but many of them quickly slipped away into their tents as if they could feel his eyes scanning them, while a few others simply gazed at the two men out of pure curiosity, admiring their husky build in contrast to straggly, local Stranded. Others however, we’re more ominous in their ogling while some where staring down on Cole and Baird as if they were going to burn a hole in their chassis with their glare. Then, there where a few who would glance when their eyes met with the men, and then shyly turned away in a flirtatious manner. If Baird had to summarize it all, the Feral were very conscientious about one thing or another, and they probably had to be in order to survive in the wilderness.

The scouting party led Baird and Cole into the steeple, lit up with lamps and countless, staged candles, illuminating the entrance and inside the church sanctuary with the fire light afterglow.

The place was warm, a nice change from being out in the cold for most of the day, especially since it gets worse as the sun starts to set. Both Cole and Baird started to thaw, noticing the fires in several fireplaces around them were burning, as they could smell the aroma of pine and peppermint.

Baird could feel the ogling eyes rolling on him from the women inside, some gazing in what appears to be interest while others would glance and then quickly turned their heads as if they did something they were not supposed to do. Baird continued to follow the scouts until he could sense the glance of a familiar gaze. Cole felt the same as the two looked over up near the pulpit to see Raven alive and well, but somewhat apprehensive to the atmosphere around them. Sven, however was nowhere to be found.

Cole’s eyes widen as he quickly turns his glare to Baird. Baird carefully acknowledged Cole’s glare while still keeping his eye’s fixed on Raven. She was looking at him as well, the two exchanging looks as if they were silently communicating to each other until Raven’s eyes moved to her left, to whom what would appear to be the “matriarch” of the clan.

Holy shit…I don’t think anyone has seen this before, and lived to tell about it. As Raven glanced back and forth between Baird and the clan leader, he could tell that she was nervous around the intimidating woman. Baird turned his gaze to the “matriarch” while she glared at him for a moment and then turned her glare back to Raven, as if the two were carrying some hypnotic jousting.

The woman had a bizarre beauty to her, one that commanded anyone’s attention to her as she walked in elegance, with her dark wardrobe contoured to her long figure. Her dark hair was wrapped tight into braids as they themselves were woven into a headdress made of some organic material. Her dark eyes pierced through her light olive skin, fresh and rosy from the cold while smooth and hard, like porcelain. Turning her gaze back to the Gears, her swollen, dark lips would part as if she was testing the air for a scent.

Her armor was a bit more elaborate than Raven’s and just as dark, as the shoulder pieces sat on layered plates made of some pieces similar to the Locusts. The layered plates extended down around her chest and reformed down to her waist, exposing her ground shattering boobage, bolted up into a nice, perky form of round cleavage so arrogantly flaunted and ridiculously cliché, Cole had to pinch himself twice just to make sure he wasn’t daydreaming. Pieces of cloth, draped from her waist into some sort of “battle” skirt, similar to what the Theron Locusts used. If the Feral from Fort Block was intimidating by appearance, the “matriarch” was even more so.

“You…” the “matriarch spoke in a mellow, mature tone, not showing the slightest emotion in her cold, pale face.

“…you are the remnants from the COG descent a few days ago.”

Baird and Cole stood there, dumbstruck. How does she know our language?

The two glances at each other for a moment and then Baird gave Cole the subliminal hint that he would be the one to speak.

“Yea…we are. What’s it to you?”

Raven’s face cringed from Baird’s comment.

Shit, Baird, your going to get us killed!

The matriarch’s gaze turns back towards Raven. Raven looked up at the menacing woman as Raven’s expression turned bleak, shrugging her shoulders and looking away as if she just wanted to put a plastic bag over her head.

Just shoot me now.

The woman speaks to Raven in a strange dialect, pushing vowel sounds with a hiss. Raven returns her eyes to the “matriarch” and collectively speaks back with the same dialect.

Baird turns his attention to their conversation, trying to make out the language as he could hear some of the sounds repeat themselves. The matriarch’s tone in her voice was stern, but not angry. After she finished her talk with Raven, she turned to the Gears as she proceeded to speak to them, in Tyran,

“Your guide has informed me that you are looking for a Stranded militia…”

“A rumored, Stranded militia…” Baird said, choosing his words carefully, trying not to reveal too much information about their directive.

“I see…are you aware that it was, this militia, that ambushed and killed some of your fellow Gears,” the woman retorted.

Baird could see from his peripheral view that Cole was getting stiff. The thought of the Stranded killing Gamma was infuriating to Cole. Baird continued,

“We have reason to believe that the Stranded may be involved.”

“Then you may not know that this same militia, has taken hostages.”

“Hostages,” Baird’s eyes widened at the news while Cole turns his stare towards Baird, hoping he would say something, but Baird was just speechless.

Hostages?

Cole just couldn’t wait anymore.

“Where did they take them,” Cole blurts out, stammering in his place as if he was a man on a mission. “…where are they?”

The atmosphere took a turn as the Gears could feel the spaces between them shrinking. The “praetorians” moved out from their crevices and started to close on the two men. Raven quickly moved off of the pulpit area and darts over to where Cole was standing.

Baird suddenly noticed that more praetorians began to emerge from the corners of the room and closed in on their position. But Raven got to Cole first as she quickly wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning her head against his massive chest plate. Cole was perplexed at Raven’s demeanor but stayed his ground, no longer commencing to move as he watches their surroundings cautiously.

The praetorians halted in their tracks, holding their stance as they keep their weapons at bay, trying to make sense of the situation Raven just put herself into. The tension in the air was larger than the room, almost suffocating as everyone stood in their place, baffled as to what to do next.

Baird didn’t have to analyze to understand that Raven took a great risk, putting herself in between them and the Feral. The only question that now fiddled in the back of his head was why. Why would she waste her life to save two stupid Gears?

Cole didn’t dare move, for Raven’s sake, but that seemed to be the only thread that was keeping him subdued from going into a rampage. Raven stayed close as she leaned her head on his arm, turning her gaze to the matriarch.

Suddenly, the matriarch started to laugh haughtily, amused by the predicament that stood out in front of her. As she laughed, Baird noticed that the praetorians were backing down, retreating from whence they came, and that was almost out of nowhere. Their stealth skills were very impressive, Baird had to admit.

Cole slowly loosened his brace around Raven as she turned and looked up at the matriarch, whom was composing herself from her laughter. The woman then spoke directly to Raven in the Feral language, almost jeering at the predicament of Raven’s interference. The matriarch’s voice was almost mocking, speaking in some repetitive prefixes, moving the dialect as her tongue hissed.

Raven stood there with her brow, hanging heavy over her eyes. Baird could tell she was not the least bit amused, but she didn’t say anything. She didn’t even make any gestures that would suggest otherwise, as if she was petrified to do so.

After the matriarch finished her musing, she turned her eyes on Baird and gave him a sinister smile.

“I have not found such loyalty to the COG in so long…I would have never believed it coming from the very least of us.”

Baird could tell that Raven’s body began to stiffen at the matriarch’s words. Her fists started to clench as she kept her tongue back, trying to keep whatever piece was stirring in her mind to herself, while the matriarch continued to lecture,

“I must admit, if she finds your favor, then surely your presence here is not threatening, however…” she speaks as she turns her gaze to Cole.

“…there is a price…for your, intrusion on our territory.”

Baird’s expression turned into puzzlement as he slowly turns his eyes to Raven,

“Ok…what did she just mean about “price,” Baird asks.

“…and what the fuck does she mean, their territory,” Cole mumbled quietly, almost grinding his teeth from the fury in his breath.

With her eyes, still fixed on the matriarch, Raven responds,

“The Feral demand a seed…”

“A seed…now what the fuck is that suppose…wait…” Baird catches himself in mid thought as his expression turned sour,

“…oh, no, is…is she serious?” he sulks as Raven replies,

“Yes, Baird…she is.”

Intermission III
The fluorescent lights dimmed on and off between surges as the lights flickered in the makeshift, office, containing the motherboard of the COG terminal that was connected to the building next door. Although the buildings that inhabited Fort Block where not the best in condition, they surprisingly held up to the bitter cold that laid the rest of Port Farrall to waste.

Colonel Hoffmann sat in a chair, glaring at a computer screen for the past hour, searching through Jacinto’s archive of COG personnel. He refreshes the search for “McNight,” hoping to pull up the database listing all known active and inactive Gears within the past thirty years, hoping the information wasn’t lost during Jacinto’s fall into the ocean’s abyss.

He takes off his hat to rub his weary head, watching the list of names just pour onto the screen. Damnit to hell…there’s over four hundred possibilities, Hoffman groans to himself, watching the list lengthen every few seconds. Apparently, the database was including government employees along with the enlistments. Jacinto’s records have been on the fritz since the desolation. I guess I should be lucky that this thing still has access to this information.

A knocking on the door steers Hoffmann away from the screen as he peers over the arrangement of consoles, stacked side by side near the room entrance.

“Come in,” Hoffmann yells out.

Sergeant Bernie Mataki peers her head around the doorframe, giving the Colonel an odd look.

“I would have never thought to find you decomposing behind some deskjob,” Bernie joked while Hoffmann chuckled to himself. She walked in, making her way to the computer console, standing behind Hoffmann while observing his latest updates.

“Now don’t you be going around, telling the staff that I’m contemplating a career change, Mataki,” Hoffmann sneered, looking over his shoulder and then turned back to the computer screen.

“Of course not, Vic…” she responded as she looked at the list of known “McNights” in the human resources database.

“McNight?” she observed, perplexed.

“Yea…does a Jonathan, W. McNight ring any bells for you?” Hoffmann asked.

“I vaguely remember several Jonathan’s…but it’s been over twenty years,” she recalled.

“Captain, Jonathan McNight?”

“Captain…wait…was he the one who was awarded several embry stars within a five year period?” Bernie recollected.

“That’s the one.”

“He also had a pretty wife…Marion was it…but she couldn’t have any children.”

“Yep…Marion was a charming woman, but they did have one kid…”

“…I thought they adopted?”

“That’s what I’m trying to confirm, right here,” said Hoffmann, pointing to the computer screen, “…and there’s at least seventy-three possible “Jonathan McNights” in this database that I am going to have to rummage through to find the one I’m looking for.”

Hoffman leaned his head on his hand, perched on the desk, scratching his scalp that was dry from the cold. A lot of the soldiers have been having skin issues because of the Frost.

“So what bloody hell brought this on, Vic?” Bernie cuts to the chase as she usually does when she wants to forego the technicalities.

Hoffmann sighs, “Well…” he stops mid sentence when a personnel file of interest comes up on screen, “…wait…hold that thought, Sergeant.”

He moves closer to the screen to read the file. It was missing child report from the Dept of Missing Persons, listing Jonathan and Marion McNight as the parents of the person of interest, but a COG officer in charge of reporting adolescent girls into some other dept filed the report.

“Well, son of a bitch…” Hoffmann muttered to himself, “They did have a little girl after all…and she was reported missing.”

“So why didn’t the parent’s report it…why did a COG officer go through the hoopla to make an inquiry on some adolescent girl?” Bernie asked with a hint of disgust under her breath.

Hoffmann knew why, and it was something he really didn’t want to bring up, especially with Sergeant Mataki. The Fortification Act required “of age” girls to report to a probation officer to be “placed” in camps for potential breeding. It was a sensitive subject that people didn’t want to acknowledge. In fact, most of what happened was swept under the rug and was nearly forgotten until recently.

“She didn’t just go missing, did she…” Bernie hissed glancing at the missing person’s profile, “…the kid ran away.”

“That’s, probably what really happened,” Hoffmann said regrettably.

He scrolled down the report with the mouse, coming across the Tyran Citizenship documentation.

“Now I remember…” Hoffmann recalled, “…Captain McNight was on a waiting list from an adoption agency, when the COG came across an abandoned baby girl…he and Marion volunteered to take the infant under his immediate care while going through the process of adopting the child. It was finalized the following year.”

“What was her name?”

“They named her, Ellie…no wait, it was Eloise McKnight…”

Hoffmann typed in Eloise McKnight to pull up the profile. The database brought up several records concerning the link.

Bernie chuckled as the list of records came up under a photo of a caucasian, black haired girl with braided pig tails, roughly eight years of age showing off her bottle rockets in a school science fair,

“Well idn’t that something…this kid has a juvie record,” Bernie noticed under the “cute” photo.

“Class C misdemeanors only…apparently she intentionally “hacked” into the school grading system just to prove that their system was corruptible…and then she made pipe bombs for a physics class, violating school policy on bringing “weapons” and explosives to the school grounds.”

Bernie laughed, “She would have made a damned, fine Gear…so why now the sudden interest in this kid?”

“She’s not a kid anymore, Mataki…I think she’s a Feral.”

“Your bloody, shittin me,” the Sergeant responded in shock.

“I wish I was, Berns…I have reason to believe she ran away to join the Feral…and I also believe that she’s one of the scouts whom was deployed out to locate the insurgencies a few days ago…”

“Where is she now?”

“Missing…with her squad, Sigma One.”

“Shit, Victor…you lost her again?”

“We’re not sure…Sigma was able to make contact with us from Hurl Damn, and hasn’t made contact since…as of now, both McNight and Sigma One is MIA.”

Bernie hesitated to ask, knowing the squad was reformed with its former members. Concerned for her comrades in arms, she couldn’t help but to ask anyway,

“Who’s among the missing?”

“Corporal Damon Baird, Private Augustus Cole, and Private Sven Dunrich…Sergeant Barker Milane is the only one that we know of that is KIA. I had Lieutenant Stroud inform the Corporal to take charge, and return when their objective was complete.”

“…and what was their last known objective?”

“To investigate and bring back intel about a possible Stranded settlement somewhere in the mountains…and they’ve been silent since. Nobody has a clue where they are…”

“And what of the search parties?”

“They located the chopper, but their trail is long gone…the snowstorm took care of that. We’re not sure if they even survived the snowstorm, so I had little option but to list them MIA, along with six other squads.”

Colonel Hoffmann slammed his hand on the desk,

“Shit, Sergeant, we lost six damn squads in one day…this whole place is has been nothing more than a icy tomb,” the Colonel barked in aggravation.

“I wouldn’t count them out yet, sir…knowing Cole and Blondie, they may pull through this yet, you’ll see…and maybe they’ll bring back your missing little girl.”

The Colonel just chuckled, “Maybe…”

He knew that the two Gears had a history of surviving much bigger odds than this, but the question that still remained was how generous “lady luck” is willing to be.

Chapter 22: The Covenant’s Sharp Edge
Vows are spoken

To be broken

Feelings are intense

Words are trivial

Pleasures remain

So does the pain

Words are meaningless

And forgettable

All I ever wanted

All I ever needed

Is here in my arms

Words are very unnecessary

They can only do harm


 * Depeche Mode


 * Enjoy the Silence

The sanctuary basement was not the coziest place in the building, but it wasn’t the worst either. The temperature in the air was mild, in comparison to the below, freezing temperatures outside, as it has been ever since Sigma squad set out on their mission. Cobwebs hung from the ceiling as a thick layer of dust on the rice bags, stacked along the walls of the basement was like paste, mixed with the humidity in the air.

Baird sat on top of a stack of bags set along the wall with his feet propped up on another stack, reclining against a stud on the exposed, inner wall. He sat with his arms crossed, glaring at Raven whom was sitting on the floor, adjacent to him, with her back leaning up against an old mahogany wardrobe. Cole sat next to her on the floor, reclined on another stack of rice bags, while his legs where stretched out in front of him with his hands resting behind his head.

The basement was a decent size, divided into several chambers that contained food, medical supplies, and wine. Wheat and flour where set neatly on shelves while bales of hay were stacked no more than two at a time against the walls. The mission must have been a central location for storage and rationing to tend to the local communities during the harsh winter when such items became scarce.

The voices of the neighboring Feral in the other rooms could be heard from the open doorway, as voices carried into Sigma’s room. They could hear water running nearby as the commotion of the Feral moving about became more audible.

But the mood within the immediate vicinity was growing coarse as the three sat in agitation, not really understanding as to what the Feral intends to do with them while still sobering from the enlightened news of their fellow squads, plight. Ever since their little confrontation from earlier on and then escorted into the belly of the cathedral, the three were hanging on a thin thread. Raven for the most part was mingling in her thoughts, not exactly sure where this was going to go, but she hesitated to tell Cole and Baird to avoid making things even potentially more complicated than it already was. Cole sat in silence, huffing with his arms crossed, impatiently waiting for someone to get it out and say something. Baird sighed as he removed his goggles from his forehead and started rubbing his temples. Patience was testing him and Raven knew it.

Since the atmosphere has changed little within the past fifteen minutes, Baird finally stopped rubbing his temples as he looked up at Raven.

“Ok, Feral…I’m a little behind here on what is really going on, so if you would…since we’re just sitting here on our fucking asses, doing nothing, would you care to please enlighten me…” Baird gripes as he continues to rant,

“…first of all, where in the hell is Vinny…second, why are we down here, and further more, how the fuck do these bitches know what is going on with the other squads, and the Stranded?”

Raven begins to respond, wearily, “Sigh…Baird,”

“…and WHY have you not told us that the Feral was occupying this territory,” Baird’s face was becoming red with fury while Cole looked up and noticed Baird was close to blowing a fuse as he started to sit up, trying to cut into Baird’s ranting before he blows a nut.

“C’mon, Damon,”

“…No, Cole…these are questions we need answers to,”

As Baird continues to bitch, Raven rolls her eyes while her patience with Baird begins to wear thin. She cuts in,

“I didn’t know about this clan settling here, Damon,” she barks as she gets up, “…and I never knew that they had information concerning the Stranded…so get off my case!”

Raven was trying to avoid getting into an argument so she proceeds to leave the room before Baird drags her into one.

“Oh…no, no, no, NO,” Baird growls as he too quickly gets up and grabs Raven by the arm before she exits the room,

“I am not going to let you try to weasel your way out of this one!”

Raven sneers, “You let go of me now, Damon!”

Raven suddenly puts her hands together as she quickly twists her body, swinging her bicep out of Baird’s grasp, but the gesture only pissed him off even more as he grabbed her again, only this time, he tightens his grip as it starts to cause discomfort.

“You’re NOT leaving without an explanation, DO YOU HEAR ME?”

“Damon, you’re hurting her damnit,” Cole protests as he could see Raven grimacing from his hold.

The adrenaline begins to surge in Raven’s body, quickly oxidating her blood as her muscles start to heat up. Raven reacts quickly as she whirls around, snapping her leg with a diagonal kick, plowing her boot into the inside of Baird’s thigh.

“FUCK,” Damon bellowed as a sharp pain pulsed up and down his leg, subsequently losing his grip on her arm and leaning against the wayside, clutching his leg while Raven backs up into a “fighting” stance. Baird manages to compose his equilibrium as he clenches his fists so tight, the forearms start to bulge slightly from the tension. His brain switches to battle mode, rewiring the pain from his leg as he moves forward, his jaw locked and his shoulders widened.

Cole quickly gets up as he puts himself between the two knuckleheads as he faces Baird with his hands up, struggling to restrain him. This was certainly not the first time Cole had to step in front of Baird to keep him out of a fight, and although Cole was the stronger of the two, Baird can summon quite a spat of strength when his temper flared.

Raven was more direct in combat and had the speed to use it effectively, but Cole knew she didn’t have near the brawn that Baird had, and he could easily overwhelm her with his brute force if he wanted to.

“Get the fuck out of my way Gus!”

“As soon as you calm your hot-headed ass down,” Cole warned him as Baird and Raven glared at each other. Cole turns over his shoulder as he blurts out at her,

“…and don’t think I’m letting you off the hook, Feral…Baird’s right, you need to get straight with us,” Cole demanded.

“Like hell I do,” Raven yelled, with her menacing eyes glaring at Baird, itching for a rematch.

“I don’t have to do shit for any of you…I could have dumped your sorry asses more times than I could keep count! You don’t have any idea how much ass I had to kiss, just to make sure this clan didn't obliterate you, because believe me, they would have done it in a heartbeat…I could have just let them rip you to shreds, saving me alot of trouble!”

“So why haven’t you Feral…let’s hear it,” Baird roared, pushing up against Cole.

Her lips quivered in fury as she stared at him, but something compelled her to hold her tongue. Though the truth was blatant in her mind, she didn’t have the valor to say it. She couldn’t tell him, she didn’t want to tell him. Her eyes began to tear up as her rational thoughts began to slip to the wayside. Baird noticed that she was close to crying, so he continues to instigate it as he pushes her to the edge even more.

“Yea, you go ahead…cry…do it, you little crybaby” Baird sneers with a spiteful tone.

Raven suddenly leaped at him while Cole quickly turns around to face her, wrapping his arm around her and holding her back, before she could take a swing at Baird. Shit, for a little wench, she’s got some vigor, Cole pondered, struggling to keep her back. The tears ran down her face as she pushes against Cole, trying any which way she could to get to Baird so she could tear into him, but Cole’s brace was too strong. Baird continued to taunt while Cole held her back,

“…and I was beginning to think you were tough as nails, but I guess your just a softy like every other whiny bitch…so yea, cry for me!”

Raven shrieked like a wild animal, cussing at him in the Feral tongue as the commotion could be heard into the other rooms. The other Feral began to turn their attention to the spat as they all peered around the corners and into the hallway. Baird and Cole had no idea what Raven was saying, but the other Feral could hear the profanities clearly as their eyes widened in shock.

“Feral, baby, you need to calm down, shit,” Cole begged her, “…stop, Feral…damnit, stop, RAVEN,”

Cole’s bellowing voice startled her as she comes to a halt. Still trembling from the adrenaline rush, she starts to shut down as her fury turns into dejection.

Cole turned his head as he glares at Baird, scolding him, “Are you finished?”

With his brow still heavy over his blue eyes, Baird starts to back away. The three turn their eyes towards the entrance of the room as they could see the Feral standing in silence, watching the drama unwind as if they we’re wrapping up a fight in a highschool hallway. Raven suddenly turned to bark at Damon,

“You want to know what happened to the other squads, you arrogant prick? They were ambushed and killed by a Stranded militia…they took prisoners, tortured them to get info, and then left them out naked to freeze…that’s what is happening to them…they sacrificed themselves to save the other squads, including ours!”

Cole began to let her go as he looked at her in disbelief, but her concentration was on Baird,

“The Feral scouts saw them…the same one’s that took out Gamma Four, they we’re the one’s who are attacking the outposts, not the Locusts, not the Feral!”

Baird stood up straight, letting the information flow into his head, along with the rage in Raven’s voice, as her lips quivered in fury.

“So where’s Vinny,” Baird snides.

“He’s the collateral, Baird,” Raven scoffed.

“And what the fuck does that mean?”

“He’s the one providing what we need to get out of this, dumbass! I had to make a bargain to satisfy the retribution for invading their territory...in exchange to relocate YOU safely back here!"

Damon’s façade drooped in disbelief,

“So he’s the one getting fucking laid?”

“Yes, Damon, he’s the reason why you’re sorry ass is still alive!”

Baird throws his arms in the air,

"Well that's just fucking incredible," he spats out, turning around in irritation.

Cole jumps in on the bandwagon,

“You mean he’s been getting some tail why we’ve just been sitting here with our dicks hanging in between our legs…man, that ain’t right!”

“Idn’t that the truth,” Baird agreed.

“It was their choice, not mine!”

“You could’ve at least given them a good word about us,”

Raven scoffed as she gave Baird the most pitiful look that she could muster, not even trying find the words to justify Baird’s complaint. She shakes her head as she marches out of the room, miffed, wiping the tears form her face while the other Feral that where watching the drama from the hallway moved out of her way.

After somewhat simmering down, Baird sits back in his seat, growling to himself and cringing from the pain in his thigh as he props one leg up and starts to massage the other. Shit, that’s going to leave a mark for sure.

Cole throws his arms up and plops back down on his seat, astonished with Baird’s “conflict management” skills.

“Fuck, she kicked me hard…and right on the nerve, too” Baird grumbled as he starts to loosen his utility belt and carefully drops his pants to get a better look at his thigh. Sure enough, there was a large, nasty bruise on the sensitive part of his thigh as he tried to massage it to get the blood flowing, grimacing from the pain. Although he was still fuming at her, he decided to somewhat let it go, recalling that she did save them from becoming fubar, earlier. But he was still puzzled as to why she put herself at risk like that, there's got to be something she's not telling us.

Cole watched him, still slumping in his seat as he gets bored and starts to ramble,

“Man…I don’t know how the fuck you ever expect to "get some" if you keep pissing girls off.”

Baird looked up as he gives Cole a menacing glare and then turns back to massaging his thigh.

Raven walked in to what appeared to be a bathing room as she plops down on one of the hay bales and puts her head in between her legs. Taking deep breaths and then exhaling slowly, Raven starts to unwind from her little spat with Baird while succumbing to her exhaustion. The other Feral in the room tend to their business as they fill a galvanized water trough with hot water and mixed herbs, preparing it for hand bathing. Feral looks up as she speaks in the Feral tongue,

“Who is that for?”

One of the other Feral looks up and gives Raven a grin and looks back down as she responds,

“This is for your friends…they are dirty.”

The others in the room start to snicker as they prepare towels and soap ointments for different aromatherapies that are often used by them to help relieve tension and encourage healing.

“They’re not my friends,” Raven growls as she tries to correct them. One of them responds back,

“Of course they are your friends…do not see us as fools.”

The girls start to giggle at Raven’s expense. She quickly remembered why she never liked gossiping with “breeders.” Raven was never very good at lying, much less hiding secrets because her demeanor always gave it away. Breeders were manipulative, and they were very good at it. They had to be, in order to please a man’s most inner desires by his attitude or behavior, without seeming intrusive. Raven never did learn how to do it, nor did she attempt to make the effort, to learn.

“But come…” one of the breeders tries to sway her, “… you are mentally exhausted, you must calm yourself down into therapy room,”

“I don’t need therapy,” Raven started to argue as the bathing breeder cuts her off.

“This was not a suggestion, sister of the valley…this was a command by Tamar.”

Raven groaned, knowing that the “matriarch,” known only as Tamar, was very insistent of certain things and that it would be terribly unwise to disobey her, especially with Sigma squad at stake. She can only hope that the Gears will keep their “product” to themselves, or this evening will end in one, big tragedy.

Raven slowly got up and grudgingly started her way to the “therapy” room as she could hear them whispering among themselves. She then heard one of them blurt out as she leaves,

“Do not worry, black bird, we will not frolic with them too much.”

They started to laugh as Raven rolled her eyes as she dragged her feet almost the entire way. She could hear some of the other Feral laughing and teasing down the hallway, apparently trying to coerce Cole and Baird to follow them. Of course she expected Cole to be easily persuaded, but Baird on the other hand was a bit more demanding.

Cole didn’t understand a single thing they were saying, but he followed them anyway as a little petite, caucasian blonde was gently pulling him by his hand while an oriental one with gray eyes was pushing him from behind.

“Hold on, baby…I’m comin…” Cole assured them as they where leading him into the bathing room. Raven could tell he was getting giddy as the two girls giggled and teased, gesturing to him to take off his armor and attire.

“…oh you ladies wanna see the Train in the flesh, huh,” Cole said in amusement.

She could also hear Baird, whom was apparently following Cole,

“Cole…hey wait, don’t leave me alone with these wenches,” he complained as a brunette Feral shoved Baird into the bathing room while he was still clutching his pants by his utility belt to keep them from falling down.

“Hey, hey…handsies off the merchandise…will you…shit,” Baird protested. The commotion was becoming a little more than Raven could tolerate as she casually gets up and walks over to the room, only to find Cole nearly stripped down to his undies and Baird trying to shoo off the array of little hands trying to undress him,

“…hey, that tickles, wait…no, no, don’t touch me there, damnit…” Baird yells out, …”Feral, I could use a little help here!”

Raven stands near the doorway with her arms crossed in defiance,

“Oh, and what am I suppose to say?” she scolds.

“Tell them to get their little hooks off of me…and tell them to stop laughin!”

Cole starts to mock at Baird’s expense,

“Awww…what’s the matter Baird…you’re afraid they’re going to laugh at your teeny weenie?”

“Screw you, man!”

Raven speaks out in the Feral tongue,

“Let them be…they don’t need any more assistance.”

The girls stopped what they were doing as they looked at her with a perplexed expression.

“Go on…come back later when they are washed,” Raven orders. Cole and Baird turn their gaze to Raven as they watch her speak in a dialect they have otherwise never heard her speak before. Baird especially tunes in as she continues to converse with the others.

After Raven made her instructions clear, the girls quickly moved out of the room as Baird lets out a sigh of relief from the "fondling."

“Oh thank God…

“Aww…you ruined it Feral, I was just warmin up,” Cole complained as he quickly grabbed a towel to wrap around his waist.

“Chill out, guys…they’re just trying to get you ready for a washing,” Raven was trying to explain.

“Why…do we stink that bad,’ Baird whined.

“Well, now that you mention it…yea, you stink,” Raven replied, adding on the list of insults she intends to throw at Baird as much as she can for the rest of the evening. He gave her a scowl as he was pulling off his fatigues while Cole was testing the water in the tub nearby.

“Shit, that’s hot…how are supposed to, uh…” Cole tries to be discreet while Raven cuts him off in mid sentence,

“You take the wash towel there, soak it in the tub and just wipe yourself down with it,” she explains.

"Oh, so this isn't really a bath, just a wash down,"

"You could say that Cole."

Baird continues to disrobe, down to his underwear as he moves his tags to the front of his bare torso. Raven moves over to the tub and proceeds to soak the towel and then lightly rings it out.

Baird watches her prepare the wash towel while he starts to scratch himself in places that normally don’t see the light of day, and then watches her stir the water with a wooden rod.

“Ok, now what the hell are you doing, Feral?” Baird scoffs. Without missing a beat, Raven responds while holding up the rod,

“Why don’t you bend over and I’ll show ya.”

Cole starts to chuckle,

“Oooo, buuurn, hehe,” Cole teases while Baird shoots Raven a dirty look, continuing to scratch his balls under his underwear.

“Oh…that sounds kinda kinky,” Baird frolics with Raven’s gesture, trying to get a rise out of her, “…oh, wait, are you going to give my ass a rub down?”

“What the hell for? Didn't your mother ever teach how wash your own ass?” Raven mocks back.

“Nah, that’s a woman’s job…to do all the cleaning,” Baird smirks while Raven slowly turns around to peer at him after his unflattering comment,

“Well, then you definitely could use a rod shoved up your ass…maybe then, you won’t be such an asshole all the time!”

Cole spills out in laughter, hanging onto the side of the galvanized tub while Baird just stood there, curling his lip.

“Haha…she’s getting pretty good at this,” Cole continues to jester. Between the fight they had earlier till now, Baird had finally had enough of Raven’s flak and decides to up the ante. As he shoots her a grin while reaching the waistband around his underwear with both hands, he slips it completely off, right in front of Cole and Raven and kicking it to the wayside, not the least bit embarrassed about exposing his junk. Hell, she’ll eventually see this anyway when the plumber gives her the one eye salute.

Just as Raven gets an unintended eyeful of Baird’s male bits, she gets miffed at his lack of modesty as she takes the damp towel and throws it at his groin. He catches it before it slaps him in his genitals, giving her a smirk.

“Don’t you want to get a look at the big bruise you put on my leg…” he sneers while propping his leg up on a chair for her to see. Raven just gives him a huff as he continues,

“…What… you wanna take another swing at me, well here’s your chance,” he scoffs, “I thought you wanted some of this…”

“When pigs fly, Damon,” she scoffs back as she turns around and makes her way to the exit, pulling the curtain down in front of the door.

“C’mon Feral…you know I’m kidding,” Baird muses while taking a whiff of the damp towel and starts to gripe, “…hey, why in the hell does this smell like geraniums?”

Raven yells back from behind the curtain,

“It’s the oil and soap mixed with water…just, shut up and clean yourself with it,” she barks as she proceeds to give them privacy, trying to shun the image Baird threw in her head.

“Aw…you mean we don’t get any room service," Cole whimpered.

“Be sure to include behind your crannies and especially your feet, please,” Raven reminds them as she sits down in the next room.

“Yes, mom…” Baird scoffs while he begins to wash himself down with the towel, mumbling to himself,

“…yea, I got your crannie right here,” he gestures while washing his parts.

“Shit Damon, have you no shame,” Cole sneered.

“This is me you’re talking about, remember…” Baird reminded him.

“Uh, huh…”

Cole manages to soak another towel while he pulls it out of the tub and rings it out. Removing the towel from around his waist, he starts to scrub himself down.

“Well Baird, I gotta hand it to ya…you’re pretty hung, for a white guy…or are you just happy to see Feral get mad,” Cole smirks, observing Baird’s generously gorged appendage.

“The fuck, Cole, will you quit staring at my dick,” Baird gripes, covering his male bits with the towel.

“Well shit, Baird, you took off your britches right in front of us, what did you expect us to do…besides, you don’t have to hide your feeling’s in front of me,”

“Don’t you be talking to me like that when I’m naked…the hell’s the matter with you?” Cole starts to strut his stuff.

“Now, get a glimpse of a real man, hehe,”

“I’m not going to be looking at your cock…” Baird gripes while Cole flashes his family jewels.

“Fuck Cole, will you knock that shit off,”

“What…afraid Feral’s going to wise up and go for The Train, WHOO”

“I doubt Feral gives a shit about your pecker, Cole…”

“Yea, but I bet she gives a shit about your little willy,”

Baird flashes Cole the middle finger as he continues to wash himself down while ranting at the same time,

“Besides, the only one that’s getting any boon out of all this is the damn Rook…now explain that one to me," Baird gripes while Cole sulks,

“Shit, man, you got me on that one…”

The two continue to wash themselves as they rambled on, and on.

In the other room, Raven removes her fatigues, leaving on her velvet garment as another Feral waits for her to sit down on a chair, covered in wool. Raven carefully sits herself down, feeling the soft wool feather along her bare legs as she reclines back with here feet propped up on a stool.

The other Feral pulls up another stool as she places a bowl next to Raven’s feet. Another stands behind her, carefully stroking the back of her neck, releasing the tension in her body as she presses her thumbs against Raven’s trapezius, activating the acupressure point in the shoulder muscle.

“You are taut, like the head of a drum,” said the dark skinned Feral near her head as she moved her hands along her shoulders.

“The males stress you out,” she asked amusingly, "and yet, you have found favor with Tamar that she would grant you their lives...they must be of great interest to you."

“I don't want to talk about it right now,” Raven groaned as the fair-haired Feral at her feet began to rub her calves.

“You are tense all over…you know what this means,” the fair Feral said.

Raven sighs, “Again, I do not want to talk about it…

“But you are in season…how will you manage, especially around the males?”

The dark Feral moved her hands around her head, massaging her scalp as she moves her fingers into her soft black hair.

“Even your hair stands on its ends…"

Raven interrupts,

“I am not an animal, my primitive instincts do not preside over my actions…”

The dark Feral chuckles as she can feel the heat coming from Raven’s body while moving her hands back to her shoulders, feeling the knots built up around her scapula and down her thoracic vertebrae.

The dark Feral finished up Raven’s upper back, while the other pulls on her feet, releasing the tension as she rubs along the arches. Raven sighs, closing her eyes and letting the tension flow out from her body, as if the fair Feral was letting it surge out of her, massaging deeply into her feet and heals.

“Oh…and did you hear?” the dark Feral mentioned with a grin. Raven looked up at her, perplexed.

“About what?”

“The younger Gear, who took down the Locust is released…the "avatar" said, that he was…productive.”

“I bet,” Raven groaned, wondering how the other two where going to feel about all of this, considering she didn’t know how these Feral were going to react towards her alliance with the Gears. This clan was not as cordial as hers. Among the Feral in general, they were known as the Harpies, the clan of the mountains, and they do not play well with others.

She turned her head to the commotion coming from the “bathing” room as the two Gears proceeded to open the curtain and exit the room in their lower fatigues and undershirts, apparently finished with their bathing.

The two were still chatting as they turned towards the room to see Raven being “treated.”

“Damn…now that's what I need,” Cole pesters while Raven turns away and sighs. The fair Feral finishes as she packs up the supplies and moves out of the room, turning her head to glance at Raven, flashing a grin and then walks away. The dark Feral does the same as she too, smiles and then turns her smile to the Gears, exiting the room.

The two Gears watch them leave and then turn their gaze back to Raven,

“Ok, so what was that all about,” Baird demanded.

“Sigh, which part,” Raven asked bluntly.

“What where they smiling about?”

“I don’t know, Damon, this is not my clan.”

The two enter the room as they put their armor to the side of the room. Raven remains seated in her chair as she rubs her forehead.

“And apparently Sven is doing well,” she decides to inform them, not that it would make them any more cheerful.

“Yea, I bet…lucky bastard,” Cole mumbled as he plopped down in a chair near the entrance.

“No kidding…how’d the hell we get the short end of the stick,” Baird complained alongside with Cole.

“You know, I would have never thought you were the type to contribute to the human population Baird,” Raven conveniently mocks him.

“Yea, well, it doesn’t mean I don’t like playing hide and seek in the garden, either” Baird admits.

“Well I guess I know what you’re priorities are…wanting all the service without paying the tab…just find something to put your knob in and then you could call it a day, huh?”

“You got that right.”

Raven finally gets weary of Baird’s bluntness,

“Ugh…I’m going to go check on Vinny and then hit the hay, so try to behave yourselves…or better yet, don’t even leave this room. If you need to go piss or masturbate, there is a closet right over there with a bucket in it…now goodnight!”

Cole quickly jumps up,

“Ooo, I get the bathroom first,” Cole blurts out as he dashes his way to the closet and shuts the door. Raven gets up and groans as she starts to leave the room, rubbing the back of her neck while still in her velvet, ceremonial garment.

“But mom, I want a drink of water,” Baird nags before she even steps out the door. He stands near the doorframe, leaning against the wall as he gives her a sarcastic grin. She halts and proceeds to turn around while she walks over to a water trough, grabs a metal cup and scoops up the water from the trough. She turns around and holds it out for Baird, glaring at him with tired eyes.

“Go on, take it…” she says while Baird carefully takes it, “…now goodnight.”

She tries to leave the room again but Baird never fails to find every moment that he can muster out of her time to drive her further up the wall,

“But mom, you didn’t kiss my bobo to make it better,” he derides, “…as I recall, you still owe me one.”

Raven stopped in her tracks, growling as her arms drooped to her side with her back still facing him. Down the hall, she could see some of the Feral ogling, as Raven sighed, contemplating what she can do to remedy the situation, and quick. She turns around with a tired expression on her face and her hands on her hips, glaring at him as he returns a smirk, obviously impressed with himself for finally getting under her skin.

“Seriously, be quiet…and I’m not your mother,” she says

“Oh come on, if there ever was a pitiful copout, that would be it,” Baird begins to rant as Raven becomes exasperated, ''what does it take to get this guy to just shut the hell up? Apparently hitting him doesn't work!'' A last ditch effort hits her mind as she rolls her eyes, and moves closer to him while he was still ranting,

“…and besides, what are…”

Before he could even finish his sentence, she quickly wraps her arms around his neck, placing her hands on the back of his head and pulls him down to her level, pressing her lips to his as she gaps his mouth open with hers.

Standing right in front of the doorway, the Feral watched in awe. Baird, on the other hand just stood there, stunned, not quite expecting her to actually come up and kiss him, but it wasn’t anything near a catastrophe either. He felt her warm, soft mouth mesh with his, feeling her coaxing him as she gently tugged on his lower lip with her teeth over and over.

Although the idea has crossed his mind before, he really didn’t intend to go this far while messing with her head. Aw, what the hell, I could use a little mingle, so he closes his eyes and opens up his mouth as he moves with hers. He raised his hand to the back of her neck, gently stroking the side of her soft jawline while moving with the motion of her caress. Although he wasn’t quite sure where she was going with this, he decided to stop analyzing it and started to enjoy the ride as far as it would take him, delighting in the bliss coming from her invigorating mouth.

It has been awhile since the last time he kissed a woman, he almost forgot how enticing it was as he started to moan while savoring the moment, not really wanting it to stop. She was stroking him in all the right places, gently moving her fingers across the side of his stubble face as he pondered to himself while feeling the fervor in her embrace, shit, if she’s willing to kiss me after a fight, I can only imaging what the make-up sex would’ve been like.

He could feel it pulsing through his brain, the sensations that have long been idling are now beginning to wake and float to the surface. But before he could jump into the deep end of the pool, she stops and starts to dislodge, releasing the hold she had on his mouth while gliding on his lower lip with hers and then gently releases it. He suddenly drops his hand from the back of her neck and braces himself against the doorframe, taking a deep breath. She slowly moves away, giving him room.

“Now, we’re even…so good…night!” she stammered.

Baird just stood there, completely speechless, just as she hoped he would. Finally.

He had nothing witty to say or anything that he could instigate after their brief, little rendezvous. As she turns around making her way to the door, she stops suddenly as a thought came to mind, something she would have never thought to say to him before. She turns over her shoulder and casually mentions,

“Oh, and by the way…thanks for the practice.”

Baird stood there in awe, again without saying a word. Her statement caught him off guard while letting her get a lead in the “headgame." Score one for the virgin…shit! But before Baird could really respond, if he had anything to respond with, the door to the closet was opening while Cole started to step out, finding something he could use to wash his hands. By this time, Raven had already escaped out of the room, leaving Baird to his own vices.

“The room’s all yours,” Cole mentions to Baird, whom was still in the moment. Damon shook his head as he moves his glance to Cole.

“Damn, baby, you alright,” Cole asks.

“Yea, I’m…just, um…tired.”

“Well, the bathroom is all yours if you need to…well ya know, beat the stump.”

Baird groaned, “Whatever,” he mumbled to himself as he proceeded to drag himself over to the makeshift bathroom while he loosened his belt and closed the door behind him, still groaning. Damn you Feral.

Chapter 23: Back On Route
This life for me changes every day

I will stand up tall, I won't be betrayed

If you play with fire, I'll control the flame

I'll do anything to make you believe

I will take your thoughts away

And I'll ignite your fear today

Well I can take you far away


 * With my mind


 * Cold

The sun peaked over the mountains early that morning as the freezing temperatures lingered for hours, until the sun made it to the sky, warming the land underneath it. Finally.

This was the first day in days that Sigma squad could feel some warmth out in the wilderness as they moved on around the mountain. They couldn’t leave the monastery soon enough as the four progressed to the mission at hand, trying to put the later evening far behind them as their memory will allow. Or at least three of them are trying to move on.

Sven, on the other hand, was in good spirits, can’t imagine why, which, for the most part, annoyed everyone else. Raven, otherwise was deeply relieved that they were able to walk away without too many repercussions while Baird was crabby as usual and Cole kept to himself most of the morning, pouting that he didn’t “get any.”

Normally, Baird had a list of the usual things he ranted about every morning, but this morning, it was all Sven. He went on and on about his “experience,’ so much that Baird put his scarf around his ears just to shut Sven out while Cole just listened, and pouted some more. Raven, on the other hand, just stayed quiet while pretending to care. The three were too mentally exhausted to bother listening to Sven as they continued to drag their feet through the snow. Considering all that they have been doing for the past three days, they still couldn’t really get used to walking out in the wilderness for this long. You’ll be back by nightfall, my ass, Baird mumbled to himself.

During the early trek, Raven noticed that Baird would periodically pull out his journal to write down some notes or go back to review his previous ones, mumbling to himself as he drifted into his thoughts. She couldn’t help to question what he has been focusing on ever since their encounter with the Locusts at Hurl Dam. She didn’t think much of it at first, until she noticed that he wasn’t rummaging the Locust paraphernalia for just ammunitions. This led her to speculate that maybe he had some knowledge on the Locust war machine, or something else of importance.

Cole was ahead of the pack today, while Sven and Baird stayed close behind and Raven was hanging at the end, for a change. She had a lot on her mind, going through the motions in her head while trying to piece together the events the Harpies were telling her. ''Why would the Stranded take prisoners? What intel where they trying to get out of them? Is there something that these guys are not telling me? Is Baird even contemplating the same thing?''

She could probably ask him but she has quickly learned that early morning was not the best time to talk to Baird about anything, even if it had to do with the mission. So her questions were just going to have to wait, since it’s not like they’re getting anywhere, any time soon, except to their next destination for the evening before they can finally come over to the plateau above the Stranded settlement. Or least that was the plan for now, if no other calamity came their way.

The only good thing that seemed to have come from their time spent with the Harpies was that they where given several bags of rations, a trail mix full of protein rich nuts, dried berries, wheat flakes and some spicy jerky. That would be more than enough to accommodate their supper for the evening.

All the while, Sven continued to yak about his late night rendezvous with a fresh, young breeder and an experienced “avatar” to help guide the breeder through the motions, and then some. Although Sven was completely clueless that the two women where manipulating him for procreation, Baird had a more generalized idea as to what they were doing to him as he occasionally listened to Sven bugging Raven with question after question.

“I can’t believe they could do that with their feet…holy cow, I didn’t think that was possible,”

“Yes, Vin…it’s an old practice passed down from generation to generation," Raven replied, grudgingly.

“Yea, but…wait…how do they…uh, learn to do …this stuff? I mean, ok that one hot chick…”

Oh God, there’s that word again, Raven groaned.

“…who just…uh, she didn’t really have sex with me, but,”

“She’s what you may call an avatar, trained to provide guidance and stimulation for those whom are inexperienced,” Raven explained.

“You mean, like a coach?”

“Somewhat…but she uses her own body to provide visual means of arousal and sometimes uses other vices to accomplish the same.”

“Wow, you guys really have this down to an art form,” Sven beams in amazement, while the other two just kept quiet.

Cole continued to sulk while Baird just kept to himself, making mental notes in his head for his journal later, trying to get past the fact that the topic of sex has seemed to poke it’s naughty little head in almost every concept of dialogue during the entire mission. Oh, thank God Marcus isn’t here to watch me put up this. Baird put his mental notes aside as he continued to reevaluate his inquiries, trying to interpret the Locust language while Sven rambled on.

“It was kinda scary at first…I mean, I had no idea that “avatar,” was going to shove her finger up my ass, while…”

Cole’s expression suddenly drooped into a façade of shock, turning around towards Sven,

“Ah, what the hell...did I just hear that right?” Cole busted out in uncertainty, “...what kind of sick, twisted shit you guys got going on over there?”

“Cole,” Raven tried to explain as Baird dropped his attention from his notes to the three while Cole continued to rant,

“Feral, you didn’t say nothing about them wenches shoving something up someone’s ass!”

Raven sighed, “I didn’t think it was going to be an issue…in fact why would it be an issue?”

“Man, I know I’ve done some kinky shit, but that…that’s just wrong!”

“Why are you lecturing me about this,” Raven griped, “…I’m not the one who did it.”

“But that’s what they teach you, Feral, idn’t it…and I thought it was all touchin, and strokin, maybe a little polish on the knob, but shoving shit up the cornhole…man, that’s just downright nasty!”

“Oh, and all this time, I thought the Cole Train can handle anything, especially when it concerns the ladies…did I get that right, or was that just someone blowing smoke up my ass?”

Baird busted out laughing, nearly stumbling over his own feet while Cole just turned around to give Damon a dirty look. Sven joined in on the jubilation, trying to brace himself while keeping his distance from Cole.

“Oh, hahaha…that’s some funny shit right there,” Cole sneered sarcastically at Sven and Baird, “…I don’t even know what the fuck you're laughing at, Damon…you wanted some Feral ass too.”

Baird tries to compose himself before he even attempts to respond while Cole just stood there with his arms crossed, waiting for Baird to come to grips with himself.

“Sorry, Gus,” said Baird in between chuckles, “but she’s gotta point…like they say, don’t knock it til’ you try it.”

“Yea, well you go ahead and knock yourself out, Damon, if that’s how you wanna get your jollies,” Cole sneered as he turned around and started to hike again.

Sven manages to pick himself up while Raven glances between Baird and Cole, and then shrugs before she too continues on. Baird picks up the pace as he moves up next to Raven.

“So let me get this straight,” Baird starts off, “…you have a handful of “breeders” whom primarily guide, I guess, the “virgins,” or newbies, to do what, exactly?”

Raven sighed heavily, "They help the newbies by interacting with them,”

“By…wait…what do you mean, interact,” Baird asks in puzzlement while at the same time, he wonders if he should even venture this topic further. But it was too late as Sven jumped the bandwagon while bluntly spilling out the details,

“Ah, man, they were smooching…and don’t mean just a peck on the cheek, they were going at it!”

Cole turned around as his interest peaked at the news of girls “making out.”

“Say what?”

Raven cringed as she realized she had all three taking a peek through the forbidden keyhole, something she could never understand about men and their fascination with women "kissing."

“I’m not kidding,” Sven continues, “…I mean, hell I bet Feral can back me up on this one.”

The three turn their attention to Raven. Ugh, Vin…you had to drag me into this.

“Well, c’mon Feral…spill the beans,” Cole tires to sway her, much to her hesitation.

“What does any of this have to do with our mission at hand” she gripes.

“It’s intel,” Baird jumps in, “…any information we can gather about the Feral will help the COG improve our relations with you guys and the other clans."

Cole and Sven bust out laughing while Raven’s brow droops over her eyes. Baird stops himself as he rolls his eyes, realizing that what he just said was taken totally out of context.

“That’s not what I meant, you fucking pervs,” Baird barks.

The two Gears couldn’t help themselves as they stopped to catch their breath in the thin cold air. Raven sighs as she continues ahead of them, ignoring the comical relief at Baird’s expense. Normally, she would probably enjoy the occasion of ridicule just to bring him back down off his pedestal, but Raven was not in the least bit of mood to entertain them in any way. She was still a little shaken from their meeting with the Harpies. Something didn’t settle too well with her concerning their pact. She never told the Gears that in exchange for their lives, she had to give them information concerning the COG’s plans, moving Jacinto’s remnant to the island of Vectus.

She stopped along a slanted cliff, not to far from where she left the Gears, looking out across the mountain range while scanning for smoke or other signs to indicate the whereabouts of Locusts. Although the Locusts where now few in between than they where before, they were still a threat. Even though the Harpies desecrated the remaining Locusts from the outpost they were investigating, many may have still taken refuge into the mines than run deep in the mountains. Raven fears they may be gathering, but they will probably not strike until the next season. But by then, hopefully, that which is left of Jacinto’s remnant will be relocated to Vectus before they overrun Farrall. But how the Harpies have heard of this before Raven confirmed it to them is what troubled her the most.

''Why do they care what happens to the COG? Perhaps they too are losing their lands…to the Locust maybe, or is it something else?''

It was a sobering thought, knowing that one day she will lose her home, irregardless if it was because of the Stranded, or the Locusts, or even the COG, one way or another, she will not be able to stay. And then where should she go? With only a handful of what is left of her clan, they may decide to stay with the COG, and do what? To become a part of their society, to maybe be forced into a “breeding camp,” for the sake of repopulating the human race, or will they venture back into the wilderness, if there is a wilderness to return to. So many things remain uncertain, but she can’t help to wonder, for the first time in her life since she was taught not to trust the COG, about how do the Gears feel? What do they desire out of all of this that compels them to fight against overwhelming odds, knowing that they may not live to see their dreams come to fruition? She can’t help but to think of Cole, contemplating over the memories of his mother when things were “normal,” Sven daydreaming about his memories in school, or even Baird. What does he miss the most?

As her thoughts race through her head, she could hear them from a distance, some laughing, some scolding, followed by inevitable array of laughter, a typical moment that has become the norm for Sigma squad, almost similar to that of a family, if one dares to call it that. So what’s it to me if they are more than just soldiers that are expendable?

Never in a million years would she ever dwell on such things, realizing what if everything she was cultured to do by the Feral was wrong. Where would her alliances be now, if she cannot trust one over the other?

The scent in the air takes a turn as reality spears into her conscience, thrusting it’s javelin into her moral convention that she understood long ago as a child when she knew what a loving family was like, even though the ties were not biological. She looked out into the wilderness ahead, tuning out the commotion nearby and listening to the forests crying out to her. She has heard these voices before, when she heard what happened to Theta Four a few weeks back, when she could hear the screams echoing in the wilderness and the same voices she heard when they discovered what was left of Gamma Four. Raven was too terrified to accept it, but she knew what it was and she could no longer play ignorant anymore. They have been betrayed.

Entrenched in her thoughts, she barely notices Baird as he walks up to join her, looking out into the wilderness, trying to get a glimpse of what Raven may be contemplating, while the other two where still behind, shooting the bull. He could tell she was in deep thought, he’s seen it in her expression before, so he finally breaks her concentration in hopes that maybe she would be willing to share something she would otherwise not make an attempt to mention,

“Ok, I know something is wrong…so what is it,” he asks in a low voice. Raven was slightly caught off guard by his calm demeanor, which is unusual for him early in the morning. She finally tells him the bad news,

“We’re…going to have to take a different route.”

She waited for him to rant and holler, suggesting the idea was another bullshit strategic maneuver, but he didn’t. Baird didn’t scowl or bark, nor did he give her a look of disapproval. By now, if Raven felt that they were going in a direction that could be perilous, she would detour elsewhere. He stopped doubting it, and made no effort to argue about it. Instead, he turned his gaze out into the mountains, looking further into what was left of Sera. Despite all the military outposts, the scattered Locusts, and the crappy weather, this place wasn’t too bad. Beautiful view, plenty of space to wander around, find a place to settle with his own workshop garage, building whatever the hell he wanted to, without interference or parameter, hell, maybe Raven had the right idea, finding solitude out here.

Baird sighed, placing his hands on his hips as he looked down while Raven was at lost as to what he was contemplating. This was something she had never seen in him before and it became surreal. For the first time since she has been out here with him, she did not know what to expect. And then he said it, as if he knew all along what she was trying to avoid,

“We're being followed, right?” he asked, with no emotion in the tone of his voice. He then turned his glance to her and waited for a response, knowing that she was a piss poor liar. She turned her gaze from him and looked to the ground,

“Yes…but I fear that may not be the worst of it…and I can’t tell you what it is right now or else it may compromise the mission. I can only hope that you'll understand,” she says.

“I can understand…” says Baird, “…I just don’t have to like it.”

If there was anything that Raven appreciated with Baird, it was his honesty. Although it was blunt and sometimes crude, it was honest. He didn’t mince words for anyone’s sake. She could see why people didn’t like him, maybe it’s because nobody wants to hear the truth… ignorance is too blissful.

“So, which way do we go,” he finally asks without rebuke or sarcasm.

Raven gestures to him without pointing in the direction she intends to lead them.

“All I will say is that it will be someplace we can stay until early morning…I can tell you the rest later, when it is safer,” she said while Baird groans, knowing this was going to delay them even further. But what other choice did they have.

He yells out to Cole and Sven who where still chatting,

”Hey, shitheads…get up here, we’re moving!”

“Say what,” Cole yells out, trudging up to their position with Sven not too far behind.

“Change in plans guys…we’re going a different way,” Baird announces as he could feel the groaning from his other squad mates.

“Holy crap, we have to hike the long way again, shit,” Sven complains.

“Damn Baird, what the fuck are we doing,” Cole joins in, getting somewhat irritated with the lack of intel concerning their predicament. Baird turned around as he blurted out in a nasty tone,

“For starters, you two can shut the fuck up and stay quiet for the rest of the fucking trip, until we reach the place Feral intends to take us to spend the night…and I’m being fucking serious, not a word!”

The vicinity was quiet as Baird gathered himself up and stormed down the path while the other three just stood there in shock. Even Raven was stunned by Baird’s sudden spat, not seeing exactly what it was that set him off. She finally looked at the other two, who were still in a daze,

“C’mon guys…the place we’re going will be worth it, I promise…” she tries to assure them as they started to follow her while keeping a generous distance between them and Baird. Raven continued her speech quietly and out of Baird’s audible range,

“…but we need to stay quiet for now.”

Sven and Cole nodded, walking along Raven’s side as she starts to ponder to herself. She didn’t know exactly what Baird had in mind, but she kept her distance along with Cole and Sven as they trekked into forest primeval, concealing themselves from the hostile world around them.

Intermission IV
The sun shines out of my hands

can burn, can blind you

When she breaks out of my fists

ice lay down on your face

lays painfull on your chest

the balance come to loss

lets you go down hard

and the world counts loud to ten.


 * Rammstein


 * Sonne (Sun)

Tamar looked out into the grand horizon, admiring the white snow spread on the forests nesting in between the mountains as the days were becoming shorter. It was only four in the afternoon and the sun was already starting to fade behind the mountains, it’s colors bleeding into the snow on the landscape, while the water in the air turned to frost, swelling the molecules as they cling to the icy terrain.

As a matriarch of the Feral clan, she has known many days when things were much simpler, when the resources where plentiful. Much has changed since the Lightmass Offensive, shrinking their territory almost in half as the clans struggled to occupy areas that were not intruding upon others. But the struggle for control became inevitable as Tamar found a way to successfully keep her lands and supremacy.

Few knew of her schemes, while others where naïve and before they realized their impending doom, it was too late. She knew it would work and she justified it as a means to the survival of the fittest. That is how the Harpies will survive, their clan was one of the first to wander in defiance. They have amassed in numbers, they have destroyed Stranded settlements to gain their women, and retrain their daughters into fierce warriors.

Though the Coalition was powerful, they have become arrogant, and Tamar knew it. The Union of Independent Republics became too overconfident, and they misplaced their power when they lost their key weapon of mass destruction. The COG is no different, but whether they will lose to the Lambent or to the rebels is yet to be seen.

Tamar looks out as she could see a stray, but still one of their own coming into their camp. The stray entered without escort, as if she had been here before, even though she was from a different clan, one of the clans that was decimated earlier that year. Carrying a Gnasher in her right hand with a Gear issued Snub pistol in her holster, she proceeded to meet up with Tamar, whom has been waiting from her to hear the news. As the stray Feral made her way before Tamar, she looked around as the praetorians gathered around the two while the stray carefully held up a handful of COG tags in her other hand for Tamar to see.

“You have done well…sister of the valley…and the others who are blinded along with their Gear comrades?” Tamar asked. The stray Feral looked upon Tamar as she could feel the eyes of the Harpies upon her.

“Three daughters of Anetha have managed to return to Farrall with what is left of the remaining squads…I do not know what has happened to your Pandora,” she carefully responds to Tamar, nervously, “and the Stranded militia continue to search for the squad they call “Sigma.”

''“We know of Sigma’s whereabouts…and they will continue to seek out the Stranded settlement, then they will return to Fort Block…the COG will unleash their offensive against the militia, hitting two birds with one stone. They will do the dirty work for us and then leave to Vectus, and we will pass without notice, taking the women and children left behind."''

Tamar looks ahead of her clan, admiring all that she has amassed in the past twenty-seven years, watching, waiting, and plundering when no one was looking. She learned from the best of what the COG had to offer.

''“Myrrah will soon return from the ashes of the world…and when she does, we will be ready. And then, my Pandora will return to me, to seek the truth.”''

Chapter 24: The “Fellbeasts” of Nexus
“Vinny…we need to go…hurry up Vin.”

Sven could hear the voice of his sister Gwen, insisting him to pick up the pace so they could get to the park before all the neighborhood kids beat them to the tire swing. Sven raced down the stairs, trying to put on his jacket while Gwen opened the door as the two raced out towards the sidewalk.

Sven was seven years old at the time, while his sister was nine. They spent most of their off-school days at the downtown park, filled with swings, makeshift cars and an enormous playground that consisted of wooden poles and old, weathered, tread tires.

But the one place the two would spend countless hours playing back and forth was on the tire swing at the end of the playground. Sven would often get on while Gwen would pull the tire back and then pushed as she jumped in, letting the tire swing them, spinning around from the three chains tied to the wood post above, until they got dizzy.

Gwen always tried to spin the tire so fast until Sven threw up, and then she would laugh at him. After Sven vomited, they would climb up into the playground to slide down the whirl slide that dropped twelve feet from the very top of the structure, and then would try to climb back up that same slide afterwards.

Of all the training that the COG put him through, nothing was as tedious as the downtown playground. Sven could remember the days he would be chased all over the playground, climbing up the fireman’s pole and then jumping from a ten foot ledge and rolling on the sand, getting it all in his shoes, his hair, and his mouth. Gwen would swing him by his arms and then let go, watching Sven fly until he hit the ground. He had so many scrapes and bruises, holes in his jeans, his mother ceased to ask how in the world he ruined his brand new pants.

The memories of those days ran through his head, like a compilation of clips that would rerun constantly. The very same rush that he would get, on the brink of puking as the world spun from the tire swing, was pulsing through his body. He could feel the deja vu all over again, the running the chasing, climbing as if his life depended on it. Never in a million years would he have ever thought that he would have to run for his life.

But there he was, running as fast as his legs could take him, darting through the trees as he could hear from the distance the snarling and growling of the beasts that ran aimlessly, following the nearest scent that their nostrils could gather. He knew his rifle was useless at this point as he reached for his Gnasher just in case, but whether that would help him or not he had no idea. Man, the Corporal was right all along, this so sucks balls!

The others where already ahead of him, motioning him to hurry up as they took refuge into the thicket, trying to climb up onto a boulder.

“C’mon Vinny, move your skinny ass…unless you wanna to be dog food,” Cole yelled out while Sven picked up the pace, trying not to run into the trees in the process. Raven was already perched up on the boulder, extending her hand to Baird, whom was coming close to the top. He grabbed her hand as he pulled himself up with the other clutching the ledge. Cole was close behind as Baird quickly turned around to help Cole up as he extended his hand. Cole quickly grabs Baird’s hand as the two try to get him promptly while Sven just now started to crawl up.

“Aw, shit, I can hear them,” Sven panicked as he tried to pull himself up on the tall boulder.

“Fuck…Cole, hold my legs willya,” Baird yelled out as he quickly kneeled down.

“You got it,” said Cole as Baird started to lean down the edge with Cole holding onto his legs.

“C’mon Vinny, grab my hands,” Baird shouted. Sven reached up as he was able to grab one of Baird’s hands, while the snarling from behind was getting closer and more boisterous.

“Aw, crap, pull me up man,” Sven whined while Baird went ahead and grabbed Sven by the collar with his other hand.

“C’mon Cole, pull us up,” Baird shouted behind him as Cole started to pull them up while Baird hung onto Sven.

Suddenly, the beast that was following their trail, thrusts itself into the brush, pushing through the thicket as it snarled and clomped its massive jaws, filled with jagged teeth.

“Damnit, hurry Cole,’ Baird yelled.

“I almost got it, hang on,” Cole shouted back as the two suddenly felt a jerk as they were yanked over the ledge, while Sven pushed the remainder of his body over the ridge.

“Ok Vinny, will you please shoot that son of a bitch,” Baird shouted as Vinny stood above the ledge and started to shoot rounds into the stray Bloodmount below. The beast became more irritated after Sven shot three rounds into it.

“Damnit, why can’t these things just DIE,” Sven yells out in irritation. Suddenly, Cole joins him with his Gnasher and puts a few more rounds into it until it started to gurgle, twisting and turning from the impact and then slumped to the side of the boulder as it’s blood was smeared along the wall. It laid still as they could hear it exhale its last breath. Baird walked over to join them, looking down at the fallen beast without it’s rider, whom Sven took out earlier before the Bloodmount started to go berserk.

“Fuck, that was way too close,” Baird commented as Raven quickly joined them from scouting the area ahead of them.

“I’m assuming there’s bound to be more,” she analyzed.

“Yea, they’re cavalry is going to catch up with us real quick,” Cole mentions, looking up at Raven while Baird continues,

“And they don’t die easily. We need to stay up on the these boulders and trees to avoid the mounts claws.”

“But what about the riders,” Cole asked.

“Vinny may be able to take some of them out while you and I can focus on the Bloodmounts with our Lancers.”

“And what should I do,” Raven asked making sure she wasn’t put off to the side.

“Can you get up into the trees across from here,” Baird asked.

“Yea, no problem,” she said.

“Then get up over there so you can draw their attention with your Gorgon pistol…just try to keep yourself for the most part covered. The riders normally use Hammerbursts."

“Got it…I’m going up,” Raven replied as she stepped back a few paces and then ran and jumped onto a nearby tree branch, sturdy enough to accommodate her weight. She hung onto the tree using the flexible needles that hung from the nearby branches as she climbed a little further up the trunk to the next tree branch and looked through the trees to see sure enough, five more Bloodmounts and their riders, making their way into the forest.

“Here they come,” Raven yells out while Sven moves up to a higher position, placing his rifle along the edge, peering through his scope. Cole and Baird take refuge along the ledge as they load up their Lancers.

“Get ready guys…Vinny gets the first shot,” Baird reminds them as they brace themselves for the oncoming assault.

Sven finally got a view of the beasts as they torqued and moved their bodies, making it difficult for him to get a clean shot.

“Shit, those things move around too much,” he complained.

“Breathe out and shoot Vinny, I know you can do it…I hope you can do it,’ Baird yells out to him, trying to keep faith in Sven’s sniper skills. It may be a little too much to ask, since there hasn’t been a sniper who has ever had a lot of success shooting the riders off of a Bloodmount. Sven picked up his rifle as he held it up braced into his shoulder, slowly exhales and takes a shot, knocking one rider clean off his saddle.

“WHOO, good shot, kid,” Cole yells out while Raven is the next to take the stage as she fires off her Gorgon pistol, drawing their attention away from the Gears. The riders start to fire their Hammerburst assault rifle in Raven’s direction as she quickly takes cover behind the tree trunk. The bullets ricochet off of the tree, ripping off the bark as the wood chips scatter in multiple directions.

Sven loads up another round in his rifle as he raises it up and takes off the head of another rider while his body continued to stay seated in the saddle while the Bloodmount wanders the area, aimlessly, compromising the accuracy of the others whom are trying to avoid running into it.

“Ok, Cole, let em have it,” Baird yells out.

“You got it, baby!”

The two start to fire their Lancers at the other Bloodmounts while their riders turn around into confusion, but before they could fire their weapons, Cole and Baird had already over leaded their “horse” as the dying beasts flip them out of their saddles.

Thrown across the thicket next to the tree nearby, the Locust rider tries to get up to continue the assault as he looks up only to find Raven holding her Boltok directly aimed at his head and takes a shot. The Boltok impales his helmet and rips half his skull off as he falls backwards, rolling down into a ditch nearby.

The other rider was able to stand up as he fires his Hammerburst at Cole and Baird’s until another shot rings out into the woods, knocking the rider backwards as he let out a growling cry, lying motionless on the ground.

“That’s two, bitches, “ Sven yells out after shooting the other rider as he flips the shell out and slides another round in.

Cole and Baird move back up over the ledge as they fire at the other loose Bloodmount, loading it with almost two rounds of ammunition before they finally take the beast out.

“Eat shit and die,” Baird yells out after killing the beast.

The other two where still wandering without direction, snarling and barking, huffing in the cold air. Raven started to fire her Boltok pistol at one, trying to aim carefully as it moved constantly.

“Shit…I can’t get it down,” she yelled, only aggravating it even more as it started to ram into the tree, shaking it.

“Ugh, damnit,” Raven hollered, trying to hang onto the branches as the beast slammed into it, shaking it violently. She loses her footing, hanging on for dear life with her hands, while catching herself along the thick bark of the trunk with her boot.

“Ah, Baird…it’s going after Feral, man,” Cole blurted out as Baird moves around to get a look,

“Aw, shit…hang on Rav…fire at that bitch,” Baird yelled a he raised his Lancer, pummeling the beast with rounds as Cole joined him, nearly emptying their cartridges as the Bloodmount finally started to falter. It thrashed and twisted it’s body until it started to slump on the wayside, gurgling and choking on it’s own blood until it laid limp.

Raven was able to pull herself back into place as she leaned behind the trunk, while the other Bloodmount went over to the boulder ridge, trying to climb it.

“Guys…it’s near the ledge,” Raven yelled. Sven pulled out his Gnasher and started to put some rounds in it. The Bloodmount, growled in fury as it started to pick itself up the edge with it’s back claws.

“Shit…it’s coming up,” Sven yelled as he quickly backed up. Baird and Cole reloaded their Lancers and started to fire at the thing pitilessly while it hung just over the ledge, trying to take it out before it got any closer. Finally the beast started to waiver as it slid off and fell to the ground, motionless.

“Yea, take that muthafucka,” Cole yelled.

He looks over to see the last Bloodmount and it’s rider, loitering near the thicket entrance as the rider tried to turn the menacing beast around.

“Oh, oh hell no…don’t think you’re going to get away,” Cole blurted out as the other three get a glimpse of the last rider, trying to retreat. Sven moves up further near the ledge as he raises up his Longshot and fires a round, shooting the rider in the back, knocking him off of his mount.

“Hurry, we got to take out that Bloodmount before he gets away,” Baird yells out as he jumps off of the boulder and rolls onto the ground. The others follow with Cole and Sven doing the same while Raven climbs down from the tree and follows behind the Gears. They run quickly towards the edge of the thicket until they peer out into the forest, listening to the beast wandering around without purpose as it’s helmet limited it’s visibility, but it could still smell them.

“There it is,” Sven points out as he looks through his scope, “…holy shit, it’s coming back!”

The beast makes a detour as it catches a glimpse of their scent, rocking its head to the side as it starts to charge their direction.

“Fuck, shoot it with everything you got, now!” Baird ordered as Sven took the first shot, as the bullet ricochets off of it’s helmet, forcing the beast to stop as it tries to remove the helmet with it’s back hook.

“Shoot it now,” Baird yelled again, trying to take advantage of the beasts’ delay before it gets any closer as both Cole and Baird load it with Lancer rounds, but it only aggravated the beast as it removed it’s helmet off completely and starts to charge in their direction.

“Shit,” Vinny yells, firing another round into it’s shoulder, but it didn’t slow it down the least bit while Raven was loading her Boltok into it, but that didn’t slow the angry monster either.

“Aw, fuck this,” Cole yells out as he puts up his Lancer and takes out his shotgun. The beast runs right up to him as he takes his weapon and slams it across it’s big head, nearly knocking it sideways as he pulls back and fires a fatal shot directly into it’s skull, finally taking it out for good.

“AND STAY DOWN, BITCH,” Cole yells at it, while giving it a couple of pummels into it’s head just to make sure.

“Alright Cole, you took it out, enough already,” Baird tries to pull him back but Cole was too much into it, he moved out of Baird’s grasp as he kept hitting at it, beating and bludgeoning it until you couldn’t almost recognize what it was. Baird gave up and backed away, letting Cole take out his adrenaline high out on it. He knew better than to get in Cole’s way when he was having one of his “moments.”

Cole continued to bludgeon it, as the blood sprayed all over the snow around it, splattering on his armor and his arms. With each passing fist, battering it into nothing, Cole started to calm down, slowing his pace until he came to a stop. He stood over it, panting, with his eyes closed as he started to catch his breath. He forgot how cold it was as he breathed the crisp air, inhaling long and slow, and then exhaled the same, letting the tension depart is body.

He slowly turned around as he looked at Baird and Sven, just standing their glaring at his blood smothered fists, torso, and arms. Sven was more shocked than Baird was, remembering how strong and brutal Cole could be. Baird on the other hand has seen this before, and has learned since then to just let him go, take it all out on whatever he found to be his punching bag, thanking God it wasn’t him.

Raven stood further back, perched on a log away from the other two as she peered down to the bloody mess strewn around Cole. He could tell that his demeanor must have made her nervous.

Baird turns around as he walks over to the dead Locust nearby and starts to rummage through his ammo packs. Sven walks over to do the same, but could not find any rifle rounds. Baird moves back into the woods and searches the others, looking for other miscellaneous paraphernalia that he may be able to find.

Cole stood in his spot for a while and then decided to sit down on a small log, lying on the ground. His head hung low, not wanting anyone to see the look on his face, especially Feral.

Like any other soldier who has fought this war for too long, it was taking its toll on him, it couldn’t end soon enough. He didn’t know if Raven would ever understand how they felt about warfare, hell, she must think we relish in it. Sven was too young to understand that war was hell. Will time and death harden him as well, just like the rest of them?

Baird walked back over to Cole, who was still sitting on the log with his head down.

“Gus…I got some ammo for ya,” said Baird as Cole looked up while Baird tossed him a clip.

“Did you find anything else,” Cole asked, wondering if he found any other materials that could help him decipher their language.

“Maybe…we’ll see when we find a place to sit for awhile,” Baird answered as he extended his hand. Cole took his hand as Baird helped him up and slaps him on the shoulder. Baird continued,

“Let’s go, Gus. Everyone’s tired and hungry…and we only have a few hours left before dawn.”

Baird turns to Raven who was still perched on the log as she gestured to them, towards the mountain.

“This way,” she said as she walked on the log and then jumped from the ledge onto the white floor in front of them.

Suddenly, a noise rang out through the air in the distance, behind them. The four turned around, drawing their attention to the commotion, echoing over the woods. Sounds of gunfire suddenly hit their ears, startling them. A shrieking roar that was all too familiar to Baird’s ears, was closing in. After taking out the Bloodmounts, the commotion must have alerted another scouting squadron nearby. There could be no other explanation.

Cole’s eyes widened to the sudden realization that they were being hunted as he turned his gaze to Baird.

Baird sulked, slowly moving back as the noise shivered down his spine, “…we need to move, now!”

“Aw, shit,” Cole blurted out.

The four took Baird’s advice as they picked up the pace, moving quickly from the direction of the commotion coming behind them. The snow began to fall again, accumulating on the ground and trees around them, concealing their footprints, but would that be enough to keep them from being followed? The sun still hung over the mountains for now, but soon it will sink into the horizon, leaving Sigma little choice but to take out the Locust scouts before the sun departs, blinding their only advantage in this frozen hell.

Damon’s Journal Entry #2
Well, it would seem in the past few days…shit, we’ve been out here for three, going on four days? Anyway, we have stumbled upon some disturbing revelations as of late. We have learned that the Stranded may be more inventive than we can possibly comprehend, even I’m having some serious doubts, but the evidence that we have gathered so far suggests otherwise.

After our sleepover at Hurl Dam, we stumbled upon what was left of Gamma Four, and unfortunately they were KIA while their Sergeant is, as of my knowledge, unknown. We can only guess that they were ambushed sometime the following morning after the day we were deployed, and then relocated to be set up as bate for other squads. We also have found out that the Stranded may be taking prisoners and subjecting them to torture. Now why the Stranded would go out of their way to be this tactical, I cannot confirm as of yet.

During our investigation, Cole mentioned that the Stranded are normally not that strategic, and I would have to agree, but we also have reason to believe that the Stranded are being either lead, or assisted by some “disgruntled” Gears. If this is so much the case, I’m willing to bet they may be massing a militia and armaments. We won’t know for sure until we investigate the settlement on the other side of the glacier lake, but we have had to change our route since we now know that we are being followed.

But, moving on to a lighter note, we’ve attained additional intel from another Feral clan, only known for now as “the Harpies,” which I totally agree is the appropriate name for these bitches since from what I understand, they are more militant than the other clans. During our “stay” at their camp, I have come across some additional observations concerning the Feral culture and evidence to back up my previous speculations.

While, apparently, Raven’s old clan, known as “Daughters of Anetha,” (I’m not sure what the names mean) was more “talented” in the arts, sciences, and breeding philosophy, while another decimated clan of the valley was more involved in hunting, crafts, and metalsmiths. From what I gathered, these women are skilled, they’re not just a handful of dumb, broads who just run around, accumulating testicles from anyone who is unlucky to come across them. The quality invested in Raven’s “custom” armor and attire alone, should be evidence enough of the degree of their proficiency. I would know, I spent over thirty minutes closely evaluating her armor while she overslept the other morning. Now how they have acquired these skills is unclear, I can only guess that maybe some of these Feral where educated craftsmen (women) civilians before they we’re integrated into the Feral clans.

I have also discovered, oh boy, here it goes, additional methods they use to assist in proficient breeding. They have, whom they refer to, as an “avatar," and apparently, she assists the virgin breeders, or inexperienced breeders, by offering their services as, I guess you would call, “eye candy,” for the male’s visual stimulation. Apparently, they used one when they threw Sven to a breeder (I didn’t know this until after the fact, lucky bastard). From what I gathered, since Sven wouldn’t shut up about it, she’s literally there just to entice the male to mate and help boost the breeder’s confidence. In some situations, they have been known to interact with the breeder by performing “lesbian,” or bisexual acts to, as I mentioned before, entice the male visually…sorry, my mind wandered. Anyway, she may also engage with the male during procreation by stimulating his other “regions” at the same time, however, it would probably be best if I did not leave it to my own imagination to theorize what exactly the “other regions” are, so I’ll bug Raven about it later.

Anyways, I have managed to figure out a few snippets of the Feral language, very basic words mind you, but enough to get me started on translating.

I will try to record my observations daily whenever possible, in the meantime, I will attempt to milk Raven’s brain of anything I can get her to reveal about the Feral dialect.

Chapter 25: Riding The Pale Horse
Aerials in the sky,

when you lose small mind you free your life.

Aerials, so up high,

when you free your eyes, eternal prize.

System of A Down

Aerials

Pushing through the light breeze, stirring the snow flakes floating in the air, prods the exposed skin as Sigma hurries through the woods, feeling the heavy panting tracking them.

It wasn’t long that the “hounds of Nexus” alerted the Locust horde nearby. Although Sigma took out their Bloodmounts, another scouting party heard their cries as they rushed in, full force, pursuing the Gears, fast and hard.

Sven pushed ahead of the pack, closely following Raven as they darted around the trees, brushing against the snow covered branches. She could hear him breathing heavily as he started to pass her up.

Raven finally had to yell out to him,

“Wait…where’s the others?”

Sven stopped as he found cover behind a tree, panting in between words,

“There…they…are,” he points.

Baird and Cole where running around the trees, darting from an array of gunshots flailing from behind.

“TAKE COVER…” Baird yelled out.

“MOVE BACK,” Cole followed as the two reunited with Sven and Raven.

Bullets ricochet in the woods, glancing across trees and boulders, stirring up the snow and pine needles.

“There…” a loud, foul voice shatters the serenity of the woods as the Locusts take cover in the forest, opposite of the Gears.

“Fuck…there’s eight of them!” Baird griped, fiddling with his gun while Cole fired his Lancer in short, controlled bursts, trying to aim around the trees as he taunted,

“WHOO, yea…come get some, bitches…”

Sven lifted up his rifle, peering carefully through his scope as he found a Cyclops glancing from behind a tree. Sven take the shot, splitting the Locusts head as the body slumps on the ground. A Grenadier moves up in to take the Cyclops’ position, exchanging fire with his Boltok pistol, aiming directly at Sven.

“Fuck! I can’t get around that pistol,” Sven barks as the rounds start to take off the bark of the tree in large chips.

Raven took refuge up into the trees and onto a tall boulder nearby, strategically flanking from the side as she pulls out her Gorgon and Boltok pistols. Dueling with both as she fires one after the other, she strikes the Grenadier with her Boltok first, forcing him to stumble back and then finishes him with the Gorgon, pummeling him with bullets. As the Grenadier drops to the ground, a Cyclops discovers her position and starts to fire. Raven takes cover behind the boulder, yelling as she nearly slips on the snow,

“Damnit…I hate Lancers”

“Get your tiny butt back here, Rav…you don’t stand a chance up there,” Baird blurts out as he quickly moves into position behind another boulder and fires his Lancer in the Cyclops’ direction, redirecting the Locusts attention away from Raven. As the Locusts continue to fire at Baird, Raven slips down the boulder onto the ground, sliding on her bum and then plummets into the heap of snow below. She suddenly feels a tear in her rear as a sharp pain shoots down the back of her upper thigh.

“Ugh…oh, God…” Raven panics, “…my stitches! I think they broke…shit!”

Cole and Baird alternate as one loads and the other continues fire. Cole pulls back behind the tree, yelling,

“Reloading!”

“Got it,” Baird yells back as he turns to return fire, filling a nearby Cyclops with rounds until the Locust stumbles backwards and falls down on the ground.

“Shit, yea,” Baird yells out.

“Haha…good one, Baird,” Cole yells out as he reloads and peers around the other side of the tree to return fire. Cole aims at a Bolter, trying to meander in the woods, but the impact of round rushing form Cole’s Lancer, strikes him down as the Bolter slips onto the ground, bleeding profusely.

Cole peers through the heavy, cold air, noticing his victim, trying to pull itself along the ground as it crawls slowly, choking and heaving.

“Oh, where do you think your going?” Cole sneers as he moves forward, meandering around the trees until he reaches the lame Boltok’s position.

“We ain’t finished yet, bitch!” Cole quickly grabs the bolter, pulling the beast up against his torso as he pulls out his pistol, using the Locust as a meat shield while he walks out into the firefight.

“Holy crap, Cole,” Sven beams in amazement.

“Move up Vinny…we have the advantage,” Baird blurts out as the two start to move around, following Cole.

Sven takes his place behind Cole as he raises his rifle, shoots a round into another Grenadier. The beast stumbles back from Sven’s Longshot while taking Cole’s pistol rounds, finishing the job as the beast gurgles it’s last breath and slumps to the ground. Baird moves up, revving his Lancer as he catches Locust sniper, trying to reload his rifle while Baird moves up and rams his chainsaw bayonet into the sniper’s head, carving it into two, bloody pieces.

“Hehe…parts is parts,” Baird sneers as he kicks the corpse away from him while Cole follows the last two up ahead.

“C’mon, bring it,” he taunts, moving forward as the Bolter’s body eats up the bullets coming form the Cyclops and Grenadier up ahead. Cole and Baird exchange fire, picking at the trees as the Locusts alternate between the Lancer and Gnasher shotgun. Suddenly the firefight takes a toll on Cole’s meat shield as the corpse starts to lump into pieces.

“You better drop him, Cole,” Baird yells out.

“Aw, fuck this,” Cole gripes as he drops the bloody meat shield and takes cover behind another tree adjacent to Baird. As the two hold their position the Grenadier starts to move in, growling,

“Moving…”

The large, husky beast plows through the thicket like a charging bull, unloading its shotgun towards the Gears.

“Shit…take it out,” Baird yells.

Suddenly, a shot rings out form Sven’s rifle, knocking off the Grenadier’s head into a crimson mist, while the rest of the body falls forward, leaving a bloody trail behind it.

A growl is heard in the distance as the Cyclops revs his Lancer, cutting through the rest of the thicket as he advances quickly in a suicidal, last ditch effort to take out the Gears.

Cole quickly turns around as he moves to the other side, revving up his Lancer, darting around the trees towards the Cyclops until the two clash saws, pushing against each other. Sparks fly from the duel as the two move from side to side, trying to push the other down as the glistening teeth from the chainsaw bayonets grind against the metal.

“Die…human…” the Locust scoffs as he puts more force into his Lancer, pushing Cole back slightly.

“I don’t think so, bitch!”

Cole moves his arms in a circle, releasing his bayonet from the Cyclops’ Lancer, freeing his, forcing the Locust to lean on one side while Cole moves in and thrusts his chainsaw bayonet across the Cyclops exposed gut, cutting clean through the mid torso, splitting it in half.

“Yea, that’s one for the highlight reel, WHOO,” Cole blurts out, stepping back away from the bloody, bowl clutter while Sven and Baird join him.

“Aw, dude…that’s a mess,” says Sven in awe.

“Shit Cole…you had to overdo it…again” Baird griped.

“You know it…hey, where’s Feral?”

“Aw, crap…I knew I was forgetting something,” Baird groaned while Cole turned back around,

“FERAL…WHERE YOU AT, BABY?” Baird starts his way back, stepping over the Locust corpses over towards the boulder where he saw her last.

“Raven…hey, where’d you go?” he yells out. He suddenly hears a whimper further down a slope behind the trees. He looks in horror to find a slight trail of blood in the snow.

“Aw, crap…Rav, say something…please?”

Now’s not a good time to lose our guide…shit!

“Over here…”

He could hear her faint voice as he follows the trail into the thick thicket. He finally sees her lying on her side, groaning.

“Shit, you alright?”

“Do I look alright?” she barks, cringing form the pain coming from her rear.

“You really want me to tell you what you look like?” Baird joked as he kneels down beside her.

“Damnit, Baird, not now!”

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry.”

He looks over to her glute, noticing the blood seeping from the stitched gash.

“I…I think it tore it,” she said, cringing in pain.

Baird sighs, “Yea, you did…shit! I can’t stitch it up right now…we gotta get you…”

Suddenly a noise breaks the silence in the woods. Baird looks up towards the direction of the noise as it becomes more audible. The low roar was clearly audible as Baird’s face went pale. He whispers, subtly,

“Don’t…talk. Don’t make…any noise.”

He turns over to see Cole and Sven, taking cover behind some trees, both frozen in awake of the new menace. Raven tries top sit up so she could hear the noise coming from the woods ahead. Her blue eyes widen as she recognizes the heavy breathing from the sinister monster.

She peers through the trees, watching movement in the woods, hearing the rattling of chains along the slow thumping of the Berserker’s heavy feet. Baird was frozen, looking out the same direction. He’s seen these things more times than he really wanted to count. One was enough. They must have brought her to sniff us out, he thought to himself, since the cold made visibility difficult for them. The snow was also making it difficult for her to catch their scent, despite her keen sense of smell, but it won’t be long before she can hear them. It was this Baird feared the most.

She carefully turns over and starts to crawl over to where the Locust corpse lies in the forest behind them.

“What the hell are you doing?” Baird hissed quietly while Raven pulled with her hands towards the nearest corpse.

“Come over here…hurry,” she motioned.

Baird crawled over to her position as he kneeled next to her.

“Get my knife from my boot,” she said. Baird looked down towards her boot and pulls out her “bowie” knife and hands it to her.

“Ok, now what the hell are going to do?”

Raven cuts into the dead Locusts gut, disemboweling it.

“We need to cover our scent…here,” she says as she hands him some of the Locusts innards.

“Aw, gross…ugh, now what?” he asked, trying to tolerate the smell.

“Smear it on you.’

“Fuck, I had a feeling you were going to say that.”

“Hurry Damon…before she sniffs us out.”

“Shit!” Baird gripes as he bites the bullet and smears the guts on his chest armor. Raven does the same by smothering her legs with the entrails.

Cole and Sven move quietly next to them as they watch the two sloshing through the entrails.

“What…the…hell,” Cole covered his nose from the stench.

“You’re going to have to put some on Cole if you want to live,” Raven whispered sternly, making sure he understood her intentions. She recalled the last few times she encountered Berserkers was that they couldn’t distinct a live human from a corpse when she first discovered the strategy.

The monster stopped in its tracks, listening as it turns its head, gaping it’s mouth slightly to catch an odor with her vomeronasal glands in the roof of her mouth. The steam from her heavy breathing seep from her jaws as she clamps them shut and starts to get agitated. Swinging her head from side to side, the five drones whom where trying to guide her with the chains, hold fast as she growls impatiently.

Suddenly, a loud shriek bellows from behind them as a Kantus priest moves closer from the rear. The priest begins to “chant,” reciting some poem in a dialect Baird has heard before but couldn’t quite decipher it. The Berserker starts to calm down as she stops moving her head and focuses her senses in the Gears direction. “Let her go…” the priest says in a high, pitch shriek. The Kantus then let’s out a wail, aggravating the Berserker as she shakes her head and stomps her feet. The drones drop their chains as she marches into the woods, pushing down the thicket with her massive body.

The four scatter as fast and quiet as they could, using the noise she was making, pushing through the thicket to cover their movements. All but Raven managed to get some distance, struggling from the tear in her rear. She tries to pull herself, pushing with her legs as she drags herself through the thick snow.

The Berserker stops suddenly as she tilts her head in Raven’s direction. Baird peers out, noticing that Raven was still too close for comfort as she leaned against a tree, near a Locust corpse. She froze in her place, ceasing any potential noise that the Berserker may pick up. The monster shook her head, trying to shake the acuminating snow on her head, brushing it our of her ear holes. Raven started to panic, breathing heavily as the creature moved closer, and Baird could see it from a distance. Shit…you need to calm down.

The Berserker stops in her tracks as she leans over to the other side to sniff out another corpse nearby. Raven tries to move back slightly away from the tree while the Berserker was temporarily distracted. In the process, she feels something moving from behind, compelling her to yelp until a hand reached over mouth, shutting it.

“Shhhh…don’t…move,” Baird whispered into her ear as the monster suddenly spun her head around and began to sniff the vicinity around them. She moves her massive head closer to them, sniffing the area as the stench from the corpse in front of them was reeking in her nostrils.

Raven was trembling slightly, thawing form Baird’s body heat as the two sat deep in the snow, trying to cover their scent from the hunter. Her eyes widened in fear, getting a front seat look at the Berserker, feeling the panting from her nostrils brush against her hair while Baird held his hand over mouth, keeping the creature from hearing her breathe. The monster suddenly exhaled, massively, as the two got a big whiff of her breath. Baird’s face grimaced from the foul odor, trying to hold his breath from breathing the stink coming from her mouth. Agh…smells like somebody took a shit in her mouth.

Raven did the same, trying not to breath it in directly. She didn’t know what smelled worse, the corpse nearby or the berserker’s bad breath. Please, just kill us now and get it over with, she groaned to herself, feeling Baird tense up as he tried to keep from vomiting.

The Berserker brushed her head against a tree trunk, scratching the side of her rough face, ripping the bark off with each movement of her big head. Shaking the bark off, she pulls away and moves to the side, following the scent of the entrails nearby.

Baird and Raven were relieved for the time being, while Cole and Sven sat still in their places, watching the berserker move past them, grazing their place of refuge as she moves further in to the woods nearby.

Pushing through the thicket, sniffing out the entrails ahead, the Berserker growls in between her heavy breathing. She too was having trouble breathing the chilling air. She moves through effortlessly, rummaging through the forest as the snow begins to fall again. The white flakes add density to the air, making visibility next to impossible.

As Baird and Raven sat in their place, they turn towards the noise of footsteps dropping into the snow. Raven stiffins up, wondering how long it will be before they are discovered, but the heavy snow accumulates on them, falling quickly, nearly covering them completely.

Drones are the first to march in, barely visible through the falling snow but their movements where still readable. They make no acknowledgement to Baird and Raven, cooped up against a tree and a corpse. Passing them up without taking a glance, the Drones push forwards, following the Berserker ahead.

Cole and Sven stay in their place, not making any effort to start a ruckus as the Drones pass them by, not taking notice of them. Cole could barely make out Raven and Baird as peers through the falling snow that has them hidden away.

Suddenly the Kantus priest makes his entrance as his raspy breathing could be heard as he stepped into the forest. He was light of his feet but his demeanor and the way he moved gave him away. He stood for moment, taking the time to scan the area. Raven didn’t even dare to breathe, trying to keep the steam, seeping from her breath from being seen. Baird did the same, holding his breath as the priest glanced by.

Moving along, the priest continues forward behind the Drones, passing up Cole and Sven. The two where shivering profusely from the cold settling in. How can these Locusts stand it? Cole couldn’t understand why they would want to come out in this icy hell, they must be desperate if they’re out here…but desperate for what?

One thing was for sure, they can’t let this scouting party go, otherwise they would be hunting them down for the rest of their journey, and that was the last thing they wanted to deal with. Although the Drones weren’t much of the problem, the priest on the other hand was a force to be reckoned with, even more so with the Berserker. This was not going to be easy.

Baird moved slightly, releasing his hold on raven’s mouth as he tried to sit up.

“So now what do we do…we can’t have them following our tracks,” Raven griped while keeping her decibel level down.

“I’m thinking, ok?” Baird sneered, realizing that the situation just got complicated real quick. He peered through the falling snow, watching from across the woods, Cole, waving his hand. Baird looked up over, checking to see if it was clear and then darted across the vicinity to Cole and Sven.

“Shit, did you get all that?” said Cole.

“Yea Gus, I did,” Baird responded, trying not to admit the obvious.

“Man, what are we going to do now…they’ll hunt us down for sure,” Sven whined while Cole noticed that Baird was in thought, reevaluating the situation. So far, they are up against five Drones, one priest, a Berserker, with three Gears and a wounded Feral. Fuck!

Raven tries to stand back up, lifting her frozen bum form the heap of snow she has been sitting in for the past fifteen minutes. Bracing herself against the tree, she turns around and notices a frozen river nearby. It was the same river that eventually leads to Hurl Dam. Raven could recall bathing in it many times during the harvest time of the year, and she could recall that the waters run deep towards the center on the river. An idea spawns in her head.

“Baird…” she calls out, trying not to get too loud. Baird turns around in her direction, noticing that she was trying to walk, but started to fall to the wayside. He runs up to her as he catches her arm before she topples over.

“Geez, Rav, you really need be careful,” baird starts to rant as Raven cuts him off,

“The river, you see it?” she points, drawing his attention to the frozen body of water.

“How much do you think that berserker weighs?”

“Uh…several thousand kilo’s I imagine…three to five tons, I don’t know, I’m just guessing here.”

“Does she weigh enough to break the ice through the river?”

Baird looks over the river, realizing what Raven was getting at as he gazed at he river for a few moments and then turns back to Raven.

“She may not be quite heavy enough to break it with her weight…but if we can cause the ice to crack, her weight may be enough to aggravate it further, resulting in collapse.”

“And how can we do that?”

Baird pulls out a his last Bolo grenade for Raven to see,

“This should do the job…” he says, flashing her a grin as he looks up to see Cole and Sven coming towards them.

“Ok, what are you two conspiring about now?” Cole gripes.

“I believe we found a way to take care of the Berserker…our next order of business is too take out the others without being taken out by that fugly bitch!”

“Hehe, you got that right!” Cole chuckled.

Without warning, a loud screeching roar echoes through the forest, while the trees tremble forom the tremors coming from the noise.

“EVERYONE EVASIVE…NOW!” Baird yells out, quickly throwing Raven over his shoulder as she yelped in pain form the transfer,

“Shit, Baird, warn me next time!”

“Shut up, Rav!” Baird blurts out, trying to move to the closest possible cover available before calamity ensues. Without surprise, the Berserker thrashes through the forest, letting out a loud, piercing squeal. She stops in her tracks as she shakes her head violently, trying to scope out a scent, but the cold air was hampering her efforts. The cold, however, didn’t numb her hearing.

The drones followed behind with their Hammerbursts ready, but kept their distance from the monstrous female. As the Drones made a lot of noise with their feet, the berserker was starting to get irritated, thrashing her arms, swinging the chains around the vicinity that were still attached to her massive wrists.

Suddenly, a smoke grenade is tossed between the Berserker and the Drones. The grenade pops, startling the Berserker as she thrashes some more and then charges in the grenades direction. The drones tried to clear out from the smoke, but it was too late. The Berserker tore right through them, not knowing what she was running into other than the sound of something threatening. All that she could smell was the smoke scattered in the area, as she decimated the three out of the five Drones that where unlucky enough to stand in her way.

One of the Drones was slowly trying to get up after being shoved away through the blinding smoke. But before he could even make sense of what was going on, something grabbed him by the neck and twisted, severing his spinal cord and dropping him lifeless to the ground.

Cole threw the Locust down after breaking his neck and then peered towards the Berserker, barely visible through the smoke. I see four down…where’s the other? She was growling, swinging her arms as the chains thrashed along the trees, shredding the bark off in large chunks. As the smoke cleared, the last Drone was up and started to fire his Hammerburst in Cole’s direction. Perfect timing, asshole!

Cole quickly took cover behind the trees near a boulder as the Drone started to move back in, but the noise coming from his gun alerted the Berserker. She tunes into the noise from behind as she charges again, pushing down trees until she plowed through the vicinity again, running over the unsuspecting Drone, trampling him to his death. She continued to move out of the woods until she stops out in the open.

Cole was trying his hardest not to laugh at the Drone’s misfortune while he turned his attention to Baird, whom was making hand signals, instructing Cole to stay put while Baird goes out to redirect her attention towards the frozen river.

Squealing like a couple of boars in a skirmish, the Berserker stomps her feet, trying to brush the snow accumulating on her massive head. Baird uses the commotion to roadie run out of the woods, passing her up while Sven followed behind, trying to stay on route with the Corporal. The two Gears manage to get closer to the lake before the berserker could hear them running through the snow.

Baird stops in his place and signal to Sven to do the same as Sven comes to a halt. The Berserker goes on a rampage and aimlessly charges across the white, open area, pushing her weight at an incredible speed through the deep snow. She misses the two Gears by a longshot, hoping that their lack of movement will only confuse the blind monster. Stopping in her tracks, she sniffs the air, hoping to find a scent but the falling snow shielded their whereabouts from her. She started to get aggravated. Baird gestured to Sven, giving him instructions on what to do after Baird darts out onto the river, hoping to direct her onto the iced over water below. After Baird finished, Sven nodded, understanding what he was going to have to do to make this work. Hopefully.

Baird waited a few moments to study the Berserker’s demeanor before charging out and getting her to follow him. As the time was right, Baird suddenly sprinted towards the frozen river ahead. God, I hope this works, otherwise I’m so screwed!

Shifting her attention to Baird’s getaway, the Berserker snarls for a moment and then charges his direction, shrieking as she ran while running though the snow. He doesn’t stop running until he makes it onto the frozen river and slides into a stop, grasping the floor before he slides out even further. Shit, I haven’t done this in years…I hope I still got it.

As the Berserker runs onto the thick ice below, her massive feet slide out from under her as she collapses and slides out towards the middle of the river. Baird looks up, noticing that she was having a hard time trying to keep her equilibrium on the slick ice.

Baird couldn’t contain himself,

“Haha…not so tough now, huh, bitch?”

She responds with a piercing roar as she turns her head in his direction, focusing on picking up his scent that was barely readable, but it was enough. She started to slowly get back on her feet, oh, crap!

Baird suddenly manages to set his footing right to where he pushed himself and slid across the ice while using his knee armor for breaks as he drops down and comes to a stop. He turns around to taunt her some more,

“What…are we having trouble?”

As soon as he finished his taunt, the Berserker gets back on her feet and starts to charge again, but the ice made her aim futile as she slipped again and rolled out further onto the river.

Now’s my chance, Baird said to himself, pulling out his Bolo grenade. He starts to swing the grenade by the chain, trying to get the projectory right through the thick snow falling between them. He releases the grenade, letting it roll across the river until it stopped right next to her. As soon as it stopped, the grenade went off, blasting the snow and ice around it. Suddenly, the ground started to shift underneath them as large popping sounds echoed through the area.

Baird was moving quickly, sliding and stopping with each push along the slippery ground, but the ice below, started to move.

Aw, crap…hurry up Damon, move your ass, Baird was trying to move as fast as he could across the shifting ice. As the Berserker thrashed her arms, the ground beneath her began to sink in, pulling her down as large blocks of ice collapse from under her weight and movement.

Sven watched form the shore, shocked that it worked. Noticing Baird was having a hard time trying to get off the river before the cracked ice collapses underneath him as well. Sven darts out onto the frozen river while slowing down his pace, trying not to slip and fall himself. With Baird slipping and sliding along the ground, he finally catches up to Sven, grabbing him before he slips down, taking Sven with him.

Without warning, the ice breaks apart between the cracks that extended near the shore, floating aimlessly, bumping into each other while the wailing of the Berserker starts to diminish. She wasn’t going to get out of this one.

Baird and Sven could feel the block of ice turn as they both kept their ground.

Cole was running out towards the edge of the river when he noticed that the two where just a few meters away.

“C’mon, guys…you can make it!” he blurts out while Baird and Sven turn to his direction.

“Let’s go kid, before this situation gets ugly,” said Baird.

“On it, Corporal,’ Sven responded as he grabbed Baird’s extended hand, pulling himself up.

The ice starts to rock slightly.

“Move, Vinny,” Baird yells out, giving Sven a shove as he slides across the moving block of ice, coming to the ledge that was rising up fast.

“Aw shit…” Sven blurts out, with his legs hanging over the edge. Baird quickly joins him, watching below as the block started to lean on one side.

Suddenly, the ice block drops down, knocking Sven’s balance as he slips and slips and falls into the cold, blistering water.

“VINNY!” Baird yells out, jumping in after him.

“BAIRD…VINNY, shit,” Cole yells out as he makes his way onto the river, trying not to slip as he comes do a grinding halt near the cracked ledge. He looks down, noticing Baird’s head was still above water as Sven hung onto him like a monkey on his mother’s back.

Cole stretches his arm,

“C’mon baby…you gotta reach,” said Cole as Baird swam as fast as he could carrying Sven in the icy water, trying to move before the water freezes up again.

“Shit, this is cold,” Baird gripes as he manages to catch Cole’s hand.

“Hang on,” Cole yells out as he tries to pull them both out.

“Cole, take Vin first…you can’t pull us both out at the same time!”

“Shut up Baird and hang on…” Cole barked as he grimaced while pulling both men out. The water was starting to refreeze as Baird kept kicking his legs to avoid them getting trapped while Sven was hanging on for dear life, trembling profusely from the cold water.

“Almost…got, it,” Cole cringed as he slowly, but surely pulled them out from the icy tomb below them. Cole continued to drag the two over to the shore and releases them. Cole then kneels down next to Sven, whom was shivering violently. Cole takes off his blanket and wraps it around Sven while Baird sits up and starts to feel the brisk cold air sting his wet face and hair.

“Agh…this is going to feel like hell,” Baird whined as he too started to shiver.

Suddenly, a load shriek surges into the air as the audible chants become familier to the Gears.

“Son of a…now he’s here,” Baird barks, grabbing his pistol from his holster, hoping the trigger wasn’t frozen as he looked up.

Sure enough, the Kantus priest was wailing, waiving his gorgon pistol as he threw out an Ink grenade in their direction.

“INCOMING INK,” Cole yelled as he grabs Sven and takes whatever cover he could find nearby while Baird did the same. The grenade rolls over to a halt and then detonates, splashing a poisonous fume, filtering through the air around it. The men start to cough, trying not to inhale as much of it as they can while Baird buries his head in the snow, avoiding the eye and mouth contact. Cole held Sven down, using his own body to shiled Sven from the spreading fumes.

They could hear the Kantus taunting with his chants, as he reached for his Gorgon pistol. Cole sat up, pulling out his Lancer while bringing the blanket to his face, trying not to breathe in the poisonous air, but the priest fired first, firing in bursts in between shots.

“Shit, *cough, damn,” Cole grimaced, ducking down to avoid the gunfire.

The fumes form the Ink grenade start to dissipate, allowing the Gears to breathe freely as they try to focus on the problem at hand. Baird sits up with Lance already in hand and starts to fire.

“Back off, assshole!” Baird yelled out as the Kantus rolled backwards, trying to avoid the gumfire from Damon’s Lancer. Soon, Cole also joined in once he was able to peer over the heap of snow and catch a glimpse of the priest, moving back.

As they took turns firing at the priest, dodging as he moved from side to side, reloading his pistol as he returns fire. While firing with one hand, he pulls out another grenade as he starts to swing it in hand.

“Aw, crap…COLE…ANOTHER INK,” Baird yelled out, trying to find cover. He didn’t know if they could handle another Ink grenade. As the Gears go back down for cover, a shot rings out into the air, followed by a screeching hiss, and another round of shots from a Gorgon pistol. After a loud shriek, the area went silent.

Baird picked himself up, shivering between the cold air and the adrenaline rush, peering over the snow and saw that the Kantus was lying lifeless on the ground and Raven, limping along the way.

“Well I’ll be damned…FERAL,” Baird said as he stood back up, rubbing the sides of his arms. He looked over to Cole and Sven’s position as he calls out,

“Cole…you alright?”

“Yea…FUCK, it’s cold!”

Cole stands back up while pulling Sven on his feet. Baird could tell that Sven was freezing. He looked over to see raven carefully sitting down as she starts to rummage the Kantus’ lifeless body.

Raven managed to pull the Gorgon pistol from hand, taking out the rounds to load up her own. She then started to rummage through his paraphernalia, looking for artifacts, or other religious materials. She looked up to find Baird walking over to her, watching him gesture,

“Hey, hey…quit hoggin all the goodies,” he gripes.

“I need the ammo, Baird!”

“..and I need anything else this priest might be carrying.”

“Like what?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” he scoffed as he shooed her away, but she stood her ground and shooed back.

“No, this is my kill, go back there to claim yours!”

“Oh, so we’re on, only rummage what you kill, terms now?”

Realizing she didn’t have a lot of movement with her wound, Baird takes advantage of the situation and scoots her over with his hip.

“Hey…this is mine!” she sneers, trying to push him back, but he was too big for her to move him form the ground.

“Mine now,” he chuckled, amused by her insistency as she slapped his arm, glancing his shoulder armor.

“Shit!” Raven wails in pain from the contact, clutching her hand as she cringed. Baird started to laugh after he pulled out a “leather” scroll and some metal pieces that resembled “runes.”

Cole and Sven made their way over to the corpse.

“Man, we need to find shelter…and fast,” Cole mentioned as Raven looked up, still rubbing her hand from accidentally hitting Baird’s armor.

“It’s not far from here…” Raven squeaked out.

“What is?” Baird blurted out.

“The place we’re going to stay at, asshole,” Raven barked, carefully standing back up as she placed her Gorgon pistol back into her holster.

“All right, all right, let’s get going,” Baird scoffed as he put the paraphernalia in his pack. Cole had Sven’s arm over his shoulder while he was shivering profusely,

‘Yea…” said Sven in between shivers, “…let’s…get…some, place…warm.”

Raven limped around the group as she growled to herself, moving ahead as the others just glared at her. He finally stopped in her tracks and turned around.

“Well…c’mon. This way,” she stammered as she turned back around continued forward. Without comment or sarcasm, the three Gears huddled up and followed her down a slope as the snow continued to fall, turning the world around them into white as the sun was now setting behind the mountain.

Author's Notes
I may be numberless, I may be innocent

I may know many things, I may be ignorant

Or I could ride with kings and conquer many lands

Or win this world at cards and let it slip my hands

I could be cannon food, destroyed a thousand times

Reborn as fortune's child to judge another's crimes

Or wear this pilgrim's cloak, or be a common thief

I've kept this single faith, I have but one belief

I still love you

I still want you

A thousand times the mysteries unfold themselves

Like galaxies in my head

On and on the mysteries unwind themselves

Eternities still unsaid

'Til you…love me.

Sting

A Thousand Years

As I was pondering the idea for a potential story sometime around December of 08, I immediately decided to focus on the two established characters, Augustus Cole and Damon Baird, simply because there really wasn’t alot of material detailing their adventures as comrades in arms.

After extensive research on their characters, I found the two rather entertaining and decided to write a story that was adventurous while suspenseful but humorous. Although the story is somewhat light-hearted, there are still looming characteristics that are familiar in the GoW universe, and that includes tragedy, loss, and angst. As the characters begin to interact during their long excursion, they begin to realize something about themselves and each other that they would have not normally gone out of their way to find. As a result, they are forced to reckon with the baggage that each carries individually and what makes them who they are.

Along the way during their venture, a dark plot looms in the background that eventually unfolds to reveal something the COG did not expect, and within the events that unfold, the characters that make up Sigma squad begin to depend on each other beyond the end of all things that makes up “Snowblind.”

Song Profiles
For those whom are interested, this is a list of some of the songs mentioned throughtout the story, their lyrics and poems precursing some of the chapters. I've attempted to link the audio but the links have become too unreliable for me to keep updating all the time, so I have the list here if you would still like to listen to them online (you should be able to find an audio file for free listening). With My Mind...Cold   http://www.getacd.org/listen_ACPz49K0b8g/cold_with_my_mind_lyrics

Seasons...Veer Union 

Dig...Incubus Out Truth...Lacuna Coil 

Sonne (Sun)...Rammstein

The Shelf In The Room...Days Of The New

The Beginning Is The End Is The Beginning...Smashing Pumpkins 

Bless The Child...Nightwish

Enjoy The Silence...Depeche Mode

It's Your Decision...Alice In Chains 

I Get It...Chevelle

Behind Blue Eyes...(original from The Who) Limp Bizkit

The Little Things Give You Away...Linkin Park

Characters
Damon Baird - better known as a “professional asshole,” is literally a skeptic, and often a foil of his own demise. But despite his cynical attitude, he makes up with his astuteness. Although his primary goal throughout the GoW universe is to survive, he feels lost when he is not "useful" and therefore becomes defiant when put in situations that do not allow him to expand his full potential.

But during the events in "Snowblind," he is temprorarily promoted to lead the squad to locate a Stranded camp further north of the drop off zone. Along the way with his, and probably only, friend, "Gus," he uses the insight of their Feral guide, Raven, to uncover some disturbing revelations that may be a potential threat to the COG temporary base at Farrall. Realizing that Raven is wealth of information, Baird treats her like a machine, tinkering with her head, trying to figure out what makes her tick, in hopes he can get some intel concerning the Feral customs, culture, and language. With Sven, he treats him like any other rook at first, but as he comes to depend on Sven's snipering skills, he pushes Sven to expand his confidence so he can mature as a soldier, instead of parading like some "dufus kid."

As the story goes on, Baird's priorities shift from self-preservation to putting his own life on the line to make sure his squad, and Feral guide, get back to base, alive.


 * If there was anything that Raven appreciated with Baird, it was his honesty. Although it was blunt and sometimes crude, it was honest. He didn’t mince words for anyone’s sake. She could see why people didn’t like him, maybe it’s because nobody wants to hear the truth… ignorance is too blissful. (Chapter: 22 Back On Route)

Augustus Cole – is the epitome of adrenaline. Charismatic and “charming,’ he is Baird’s opposite, often searching the bright side of things, rather than negative. Despite Baird's negativity, COle treats him like everyone else and often goes out of his way to cheer Damon up. Being familier with what it's like to work as a team, he seldom complains and will do what it takes to do the job, even if it means putting up with Baird.

During the story, he takes an instant liking to Raven, dispite her stubborness, and treats Sven like another brother in arms, even though occasionally, he teases Sven for his own amusement. Throughout "Snowblind," Cole serves as the backbone of the group, keeping everything in balance, often coming in between Baird and Feral when the two would "butt-heads." As the group work together, Cole eventually earns Raven's trust, and becomes a surrogate, older brother to Sven.


 * Raven never thought a Gear could feel such things, embrace on the little moments that would otherwise appear so subtle. Perhaps they were not as unsentimental as she always believed them to be. Cole certainly wasn’t. She almost envied Cole, in the way he viewed daily life as a blessing, considering everything he did have, and not second guess on the things he didn’t have. (Chapter 15: Back To Square One)

Sven Dunrich – is as wet behind the ears as they come. Sven (Vinny) was transferred to Sigma squad by his own commander, Captain Miller of Epsilon, to give the rook some more experience out in the field, that and Epsilon was getting “tired” of his noobness and found the transfer an easy way to get rid of him. Often the butt of Cole and Baird’s musings, Sven is for the most part easy going, displaying “juvenile” tendencies. But during his venture with Sigma, he discovers his own confidence in his abilities, as he has often had to use them to keep them alive.

As the story progresses, Sven proves himself to be a very proficient marksman, even under stress as his team starts to become more dependant on his skills.


 * Sven hasn’t fought near as long or hard as Cole and Baird have, and his naive outlook on the situation can only be natural. The two make no comment on the subject, as they have already accepted Sven’s infantile blueprint and expect nothing else other than noobish questions. S***, he’s just a kid. (Chapter 24: Quid Pro Quo)

Raven McNight (Feral) – is a person of contrast in a world very gray. She has a distinct sense of right and wrong, often displaying defiance when situations call otherwise. Being the only, reliable, linguist at the time, she grudgingly volunteers to lead the squads, Sigma One and Gamma Four through the terrain in hopes to annihilate the Locust threat that has decimated her clans. At first, she has little trust in the Gears but tries to make the best of the situation as she understands to be. Despite her COG upbringing as a child, she runs away from home to avoid being subjected to the “Fortification Act” which forced the young women, at the time, to be relocated to “breeding” facilities. After her escape, she is picked up by the Feral and “reborn” into their kata. With a history of dabbling in chemistry, making explosives, and hacking into computer files, Raven has proven to be most resourceful to the Feral, making her an elusive thorn to the COG, until recently.

At first, she displays little trust and confidence in the team, which annoys Baird to no end. The two characters quarrel on occasion but often put aside their differences to focus on staying alive. But as time passes on, the Gears start to rub off on Raven and she starts to become, somewhat attatched, especially when she begins to question everything she thought she knew when some disturbing revelations shamble her confidence. As the lines between friends and foes start to blurr, the only people that she can remotely find some sanctuary in is with the men of Sigma squad.


 * Baird could only guess that she was wedged into two worlds that won’t let her fit in, therefore defiance, is her only means of self-expression while her true identity is suspended somewhere in limbo. (Chapter 10: Warm Winter Night)

''I will update this section periodically. Any feedback concerning the story, characters, or whathaveyou is appreciated.''