Gears of War: Deployable Weapon



Summary
Gears of War: Deployable Weapon is based on a dream that was had one night, with the details that were not present within it filled in over the course of the next few days following. It goes without saying that it is a complete Alternate Universe What If? Version of the 2nd game starting from Act 2: Denizens, with bits and pieces kept, rewritten, added to, and definitely speculated upon. Just like the main characters, prepare for a lot of action from the get go, questions and wondering what in the world is going on, because, as is so often the case, the key twist and centre of the plot will be revealed as the story progresses.

=Gears of War: Deployable Weapon= ''“Hope can sometimes come out of the shadows. We never knew when, and we didn‘t know how… until now.”''

Confusion
The Locust Foot Soldier fell; just crumpled in a heap. The Boomer seemed to freeze mid-reload, even as it was being filled with a myriad of Lancer powered bullets, before, he too, simply lost all muscle control within every part of his oversized body, knees falling out from beneath it, out cold, almost one hundred percent sure to be dead. Another drone further back, this one carrying the standard Gnasher Shotgun, and without there being any visible reason, keeled over too, followed by another, and another. The three wretches that’d made it out of the Emergence Hole, their lopsided gait suddenly ceased and desisted, the ‘monkey-dogs’ toppling over, still, lifeless, gone. Behind them, the Grub Hole closed, yet not one of the Gears had deployed a grenade, nor underground, as they were, could the Hammer of Dawn be made use of either.

To the human side of this 14-year-long war, using natural rock formations and the toppled over or still standing Grindlifts for cover, it was a moment that caused the first lot of confusion. The second came when a voice from behind asked a question, the enquiry itself not the reason for the deepest form of shock to be represented within every contour of his fellow COG Soldiers’ faces. No, it was the previously witnessed fact that the Private was supposed to be dead; taken out by the Boomer, with a gaping hole in his chest! The wound was no longer there. The soldier was absolutely fine. They all were. Even the fatigue from traveling and fighting to make it, to stay alive, all the way from Jacinto to Landown was gone.

So, the question was a blatantly obvious one, what they hell was going on?!

“Control, this is Alpha-Seven, do you read?” the Corporal spoke into the COG issued earpiece. “Something... Control?” he had to make sure the signal was being received before even bothering to continue.

“Alpha-Seven. Jace, This is Delta. Fenix here. There is a Seeder blocking any transmission to the surface. Alpha-One already has it in their sights,” a familiar voice informed him, the plateau Delta stood upon looking out over the recent Grindlift deployment of more Gears, this time, and highly coincidental, Alpha-Two.

“Well… Marcus, that isn’t what I wanted to here. Means we are not going to get the answers we need right now.”

“Answers to what?” Marcus asked, exchanging a glance with his closet friend, Dominic, or Dom, following suit in raising an eyebrow. It was plainly obvious by the mere tone of their once fellow teammate’s voice that something major was going on.

“Let’s see, where do I start…” there was a pause, for about half a second, “Grindlift deployment went smoothly,” the hint of humor in the infection literally emanating relatively speaking, since no Grindlift ride was ever really smooth. “Ambush came even before we were all out! Lost Jennings almost straight away, damn Boomer came out of nowhere! Returned fire…”

To Delta-One, comprising of Sergeant Marcus Fenix, Corporal Dominic ‘Dom’ Santiago, Corporal Damon Baird, and Private Augustus ‘Gus’ Cole, these events were nothing knew. They happened all the time, Baird rolling his eyes, on the verge of abruptly telling Jace to hurry the heck up and get on with it already!

“…then they just started falling. I’m talking freezing damn half way through whatever they were doing at the time and just, well, dying! Damn Grub Hole closed up on its own too! That’s…” and this is where Jace’s eyes went to the Private that should have been dead, even though those on the other side of the com device couldn’t see him doing it. “That’s not the most shocking thing though! Jennings, he’s not… dead anymore. Freaking gaping hole in his chest is just gone, like it healed up instantly or something…”

“Seriously man, what are you on?!” Baird interrupted, disbelief palpable.

“He’s telling the truth, Corporal Baird,” another voice on the opposite end spoke up; Jennings himself. “I felt… okay, look, I was dead, nothing, then this warmth, like something was rushing through me…”

“Damn! I felt that too!” another Alpha team member interjected. “Almost like some sort of invisible energy wave, or… or…” he clicked his fingers, trying to remember, the sound heard but probably not understood as to what it indicated over the line. “Pulse! That’s it! An energy pulse!”

“Exactly,” Jace continued again. “Marcus, could Command or Control have put some type of deployable weapon out here and we just don’t know about it?”

“Ain’t got a clue, but it’s possible,” Marcus said, the usual gruffness of his voice holding no hint of emotion, nothing to give away that no matter how unreal Alpha-Seven’s story sounded, they were all reporting in with the same thing, or similar. That, and if this was some sort of Locust trick, there was no way Jace would have been ordered to contact Control, not initially anyway. No, it was more than likely he’d have been forced to ask any nearby COG teams to come and check it out first, the Horde learning long ago there was no true way for their enemy to be able to tell if a call for distress was a genuine one or not.

Not until it was far too late.

More to the point, though, the seasoned soldier knew the higher ups did all kinds of things all the time, without actually informing the ones out in the field and risking their lives. Had something to do with them enjoying the term Classified far too much.

“Well, whatever it was,” Jace was still very much stunned, the modulation of his voice holding a sense of pleasant surprise to it as well. “Let’s hope it wasn’t a one off, coz I thought we we’re goners for sure.”

“C’mon Baby, we all know you’re better than that!” Cole put in. “Ain’t no way yer’d have been taken out of the game by just one Grub hole!” to some, the large man’s over-the-top enthusiasm for, well, just about everything, was a complete turn off.

For Corporal Jace Stratton, once working side by side with the ex thrashball player, Cole’s very personality, along with the rest of Delta, and yes, even Baird, was just one of the many reasons he’d managed to make it this far, fighting a war for so many years that’d seen even the best of them crack under a pressure none of them had ever faced before. He owed his life many times over to the four men he was now informing of this very strange and confusing event. “Thanks Cole,” Jace answered. “Not really sure what to do about this… now, though.”

“Ain’t much you can do with the comms down,” Marcus began. “Just keep moving and make sure you let us know…” there was a sudden, and extremely loud, screeching sound, drowning out anything and everything around them, immediately bringing the four Gears to attention.

“Wretches!” Dom yelled.

“Fenix, OUT!” he emphasized, Stratton not even needing that to know there would be no more talking.

“Die, Groundwalker!”

“Contact!” came from Marcus even as they were already filling the approaching wretches with various sized holes.

“GRIND!”

“Oh great. This is what happens when we waste time listening to fantasy stories!” Damon yelled over the battle, finding himself face to face with a wretch as he broke cover briefly to return fire on one of the Drones.

“You don’t believe him?!” Dom voiced, right beside him and sounding rather incredulous, bearing in mind what they knew about their friend.

“No. I think…” Baird had no choice but to pause for a second or more, wincing at the rake of the wretches’ claws along his side, while at the same time he hit the not so smart pack animal over the head; once, then twice, until it was finally dead. “I think Jace is messin with our heads, and his whole team are in on it…” and that was the end of it, because a growl from Marcus snapped both men’s attention to their team leader and friend.

Chainsaw bayonet duel. Lancer to Lancer. Truly something to behold from a man who always seemed to know just what the hell he was doing! Problem was, for all his training, experience, and sheer determination, Sergeant Marcus Fenix could not watch every angle, could not possibly impede all that was coming at him at once, especially when it came to a melee, one on one confrontation like this. That was why there were four of them, Dom hesitating none in performing a forward body roll in full gear, the momentum carrying him to a stand right behind the other drone coming at his friend from the side. There was no avoiding the chainsaw teeth making contact with its back, because the Grub never damn well saw it coming!

By the time Dom had finished, so had Marcus, the latter turning around, catching his best mate’s gaze and simply nodding, eyes depicting the gratitude only those that knew him could read.

“Hello! A little help here?!” Baird. Typical, the guy had rushed headlong into another personal battle of his own and found two additional wretches that had not been there when he’d initially made that decision.

“I’ve got yer back, Baby!” Cole’s voice rang out, as did the sound of Lancer on Wretch once again.

“Bout time!” Baird criticized, only really half joking, because that was just who he was. A brilliant technician, a skilled soldier, held back from receiving and holding a promotion any higher than Corporal by just one thing… a damn big mouth!

“Here comes some more!” Marcus’ warning carried to all of them.

“GRIND!”

“Oh c’mon!” Baird yelled. “Hasn’t someone dealt with you already?” the question was essentially a rhetorical one, since by now his Longshot scope was focused in. Two sniper round shots to the massive grub’s head were all that were needed. One to knock off the thing’s helmet and two, after ducking back behind the natural rock formation for cover whilst reloading, to bring it down. It fell as he pulled the trigger, the round hitting something in the far distance. “Well, that was a waste of ammo,” regardless, even Damon Baird knew when to reign in that mouth. The grinder was dead, no matter who or what had finally achieved it.

“I told yer I had yer back, Baby!” it was like déjà vu all over again, the huge smirk on Cole’s face saying it all.

“Nice,” the blond haired Tech said, almost shrugging it off, like it meant nothing when deep down, all of Delta knew it meant a great deal. “That it?” he further enquired, stand out blue eyes scanning the area briefly, before moving forward to collect some Lancer rounds and see what else he could scrounge.

“Looks like it,” Fenix answered, in the process of bending at the knees to relieve the nearest drone of the shotgun in its hands. He already had one just like it magnetically held to the armor upon his back, nevertheless, the rounds were what he was really after. Getting their hands on anything and everything while out in the field had become nigh near invaluable the more the years since E-Day had passed. It wasn’t like there were workable factories, or a corner gun shop they could just walk on into and gather up everything they needed whenever they needed it, after all. At least, not ones heavily guarded and built in an area that made it very hard for the Locust to emerge into, and even harder for the COG soldiers to make regular use of.

“Better keep moving then,” Damon just managed to finish saying, before another familiar voice came over the intercom and they were reminded yet again that this transient victory was just another in a long line of numerous successes prior and, 'with the survival of the human race depending on it'', hopefully many more to come.

“Sarg? Sarg, can you hear me?!”

“Carmine. What’s your position?”

“Not really sure, sir. I think my lift went off course.”

“Is Tai with you?”

“No. He jumped out before launch to face… to face that new Locust, did you see him?!”

“Yeah, we saw It,” although no sentiment showed on Marcus’ face, it could be heard in his articulation, Dom especially understanding how hard it’d been for the both of them to watch Tai and Dizzy move to face this new, and obviously very skilled, adversary and neither of them being able to do a damn thing about it. No matter how hard they’d tried to lift up the harness, to get the hell out of what had fast become a place they no longer wished to be, despite the fact getting to that point had been their sole mission in the first place, the two friends had been stuck there, powerless to stop their Grindlift from closing completely and proceeding to cut through the bowls of the very earth that made up Sera.

“We saw the new guy too,” Baird added in. “Didn’t see... Tai… damnit,” for once there was no sarcastic comment. Damon was suddenly just as worried as the rest of them, now they knew for sure their South Islander friend had not been with his jump mate.

“I see another lift up ahead,” the interlude of brief silence filled with Carmine’s proclamation.

“Okay, head that way,” Marcus began. “But don’t engage the enemy, just defend your position.”

“Wilco Sarg. Wish me luck!”

“Hang in there, rook. We’ll be there soon,” Fenix finished, releasing the Comlink.

Gazes swapped between them all, blue eyes landing on brown for a few extra moments.

“Let’s go find Carmine,” Marcus finally said, bringing each and every focus on something other than the apprehensive thoughts running through their heads. That undeniable feeling they may never see Tai Kaliso, their squad mate, and friend, ever again.

Transition
Underground.

If they’d been there for any other reason they may have appreciated their surroundings for what they were - one word - beautiful. Their Grindlift landing and subsequent travels had seen them traversing over rocky terrain untouched by human or Locust additions, aglow with various sized mushrooms and flying insects, rock minerals and a red fruit none of them had ever seen before. There were even trees beneath the surface, their large and bulging roots pushing up, down and through sections of the rocks, becoming a part of the walls or ground; the area army booted feet stepped upon and sometimes, just sometimes, tripped over too, if eyes were not looking at the ground in front of the person to whom they belonged to.

Moss, Vines, air plants, distant caves, nearby openings, sheer cliff face drops into the river even deeper below them and off to a side the curiosity of each member of Delta could not help but occasionally go near to investigate; ALL of it made up a planet that had not seen its inhabitants at peace for a very long time. If it wasn’t the thus far 14-year-long confrontation between the human race and an enemy representing bipedal, sentient beings, yet, in no other way similar to those which they destroyed without mercy, it was the 80 years of fighting each other before that over who had the right to the Imulsion and the fuel it created.

Not everything below the surface of Sera was a cause for fear and terror.

~Just a shame the grubs have tainted this place,~ ran through Marcus’ mind, usual single-minded focus pushed aside for a time. Replaced with images; dreams, of a better time, when he and Dom may have been enjoying where they were, instead of always on constant alert, ready for any thing, at any time.

“Yo, Marcus,” Dom broke through his best mate’s reverie. “Which way?”

A quick glance at the ‘fork in the road’ and Fenix’s brain had calculated their next course of action, closing off anything and everything, including the instability and noise every so often announcing the onset of another incoming Grindlift. “We’ll find Carmine quicker if we split up. Search by twos. Dom, take Baird right. Cole, you’re with me.”

“Damnit! Damnit, NO!” the panic-filled voice filled their ears.

Marcus paused mid-jog, standing up stock straight and hitting his Com. “Keep it together, rook!” he began, tone instantly demanding attention.

“They’re dead… they’re all dead, Sarg. It’s just me!”

“Dom, Baird, double time!” and without any further order needed, all four members fell into instant Roadie Runs, slowed slightly by the fact they were traveling up an incline, and broken only once they reached Carmine’s position.

Through the vines covering the geological gap in the rock wall, they could see, they could hear, and now they were damn well being shot at by the drones and grenadiers bent on finishing what they’d started. Marcus lifted his chainsaw bayonet at the same time Cole did, both hacking until they made it through. Taking quick stock of the situation easily filled the two men in on the fact Dom and Baird had undergone the exact same thing, and if they didn’t take cover immediately...

“Oh crap!” Dom yelled, sideways roll momentum clearing him of the hammerburst rounds at point blank range, the secondary maneuver of returning fire completed without thought, automatic pilot and a lot of instinct kicking in. It prepared him; saw him well and truly ready for the slightly wounded locust to continue in its pursuit until either of them were dead. Fortunately, it was caught in the crossfire currently hurtling from more than just the previous solitary position, leaving the one still standing to directly turn his attention elsewhere.

“Carmine!” the Ephyra born native called, eyes widening at the sight of a grenade hurtling in-between the last two remaining Locust and exploding with an almost pinpoint accuracy. “Nice throw!” replaced the need Dom’d just had to check in and make sure their fellow teammate was still in one piece. Maybe referring to him as a rook really wasn’t appropriate anymore. The way he’d tossed that projectile clearly showed that not only was he indeed okay, but he’d come a long way from almost blowing Marcus and him up during the rather short training session they’d ran through when the kid had first been assigned to Delta.

Private Benjamin ‘Ben’ Carmine was still a little too shaken to respond to Dominic’s praise, the flood of relief he’d felt at merely seeing the seasoned soldiers enter the very large cave, let alone begin to help him engage the enemy, hidden behind the helmet he always wore out in the field. “Sarg,” he began, voice filled with a different kind of shakiness this time. “Sarg, I made it!”

“Rook, you did good,” genuine commendation when it was truly deserved was not something even the stoic Marcus Fenix held back from. “Gears, we’ve got Carmine, but it looks like Echo-Five is down. We’re heading deeper into the Hollow.”

“But Sir, there’s a wall there,” Carmine pointed out.

Dom’s gaze was just one among the four now looking around, searching for another answer. Going back the way they’d come was not an option; there was no way to get where they wanted to go without… “What about the Grindlift?” Dom suggested, Baird already rushing forward with renewed enthusiasm. Machines were his specialty after all.

“It’s busted, Sir,” Ben informed their team leader.

“JACK, see what you can…”

“Hang on a minute,” Baird interrupted, giving Marcus one of those “Hello, I’m here and more qualified than a stupid machine” kind of looks. Rather ironic considering he loved the damn things in the first place. “I can do it,” said in a way that clearly stated JACK better just stay the heck out of his way.

Marcus said nothing, just grunted, leaving the smart mouthed Tech to it, considering it really didn’t matter who fixed the damn thing, as long as it was done, and sooner rather than later. The current shaking the ground was in no way due to incoming Grindlifts. “Hurry the hell up, Baird!” Fenix hissed, just moments before a Grub hole opened on the other side of the cave, and Ben verified what they’d already known was coming.

“Aww, more Locusts.”

“Hold ’em off so Baird can fix the lift!” well, that order was obvious, but still.

“Like Marcus said, hurry the hell up, baby!” Cole reiterated, moving to follow the rest of the team forward. He paused for a second, looking over his shoulder, grinning from ear to ear, and quickly adding, “Nah, no rush, I’ve got me some locust to kill! WHOO!” and he was gone, sliding into cover beside Dom, pulling out a grenade and lobbying it towards the grub hole, which, in turn enabled him to see the second one opening to the right of their almost perfect, upper hand position.

~Hurry the hell up, Baird, don’t hurry up! Which one is it?!~ Damon thought to himself, even as he was tinkering with the lift’s control panel. ~And fancy telling Jack to do this when I’m right here!~ the incredulousness accompanying his inner thoughts was bordering on anger. ~What the hell am I, invisible?!~ frowning a little, he glanced towards what was undoubtedly a rather unattractive robot. “Yeah, well, you are helpful, but I’m better at this!” he scowled at him. JACK’s response, a couple of beeps that Baird could’ve sworn meant, “Keep telling yourself that, my friend.”

The sound of something hitting his armor snapped the Tech’s attention away from arguing with the Geobot. “Hey, what the hell, you’re supposed to be protecting me, remember!” he yelled, not really caring if his comment was ignored, because for all intents and purposes... “Hah! Fixed! Thanks to me. You’re welcome!” he quite happily rubbed in, before reaching to pull his Longshot forward and find his own ideal position.

Cole’s grenade had bounced once, before sliding into the initial grub hole, achieving the purpose for which it was sent effectively, efficiently, and almost before anything could emerge. Conversely, trying to pull off the same maneuver with the second E-Hole had become impossible, the sound ominous, getting closer, and sending all four men already in battle rolling backwards, sideways, anywhere other than where they had been originally. The fifth team member joined them, the mumbled, “Damn Tickers!” heard coming from Marcus as Damon used the butt of his rifle as a kind of baseball bat, sending the kamikaze mine flying over their heads, where it would hopefully land near some of its own kind before exploding.

No such luck. It detonated in mid air. Least there was no longer any danger… from that one at least. Two sniper rounds went off almost in sync, Carmine’s hitting another Ticker he could see in the distance, Baird’s hitting the one crawling around and almost tripping over one of the drones. With a loud boom, both went off, the latter taking the drone with it and severely hurting another in the vicinity. “Now, I’d like to see that again. I would,” Damon muttered, the comment meant for no one in particular, since he was already focusing in on his next target.

“Incoming!” Dom’s voice rose as loudly as he could manage, and it was enough, two soldiers hightailing it back in the general direction of the Grindlift, a different kind of explosion going off behind them signaling they were clear.

Dark eyes turned to gaze upon the resultant black scorch mark of the grenade in the surface of the rocky ground where they’d just been. “Damn, that was a close one, Baby!” Gus exclaimed, the two men simply looking at each other, even as they were getting back into the action again.

“Close that hole!” Dom yelled. “I have no friggin grenades left, or I’d do it myself!’

“Already on it, Dom,” Marcus’ voice, over the… comlink?

“Marcus, what the hell?”

“Cover me!”

Four heads popped up all bar simultaneously, opening fire on anything that moved, except for the Gear they could see hugging the right side of the cave. The only thing Fenix encountered was another Ticker, before his grenade fell into the hole, various sounds of a painful death heard from the Locust still trying to emerge from it.

With the area now clear, Marcus moved, not back up towards the rest of his team now coming down to meet him, but over to the nearest weapon; this time, a Lancer; once again relieving it of its rounds, completely oblivious to the glare he was getting from Dom. ~Damn him sometimes. Why does he always do that, put himself in harms way and not tell us until its already too late!~ it was true, Dominic Santiago fully understood his best mate was quite capable of taking care of himself. Regardless, to lose Marcus would be like losing another brother, the last person on the planet who knew him both inside and out. No matter how much Dom tried to tell himself it was unlikely to happen, there was that part of him that would always, always hold the fear of one day watching the only family he had left die.

“Let’s keep moving,” the order came pretty much right on cue, Dom’s glare having already broken away from his friend to do just that. There were some grenades lying around, one of them no doubt dropped by the very drone that’d been taken out by that Ticker.

“I fixed it!” came the revelation… again.

“Yeah, heard you the first time, Baird,” Marcus answered.

“Oh, really? Because I didn’t hear any thank you then, and I’m not hearing it now, either,” Damon shot back.

“Just get the hell up there and press the button,” classic really, how easily Marcus could merely brush off the brat among them. Of course, within the once very rich man’s mind, the synonyms used to describe the Tech were far less appealing, and that was without mentioning what exactly it was he so very often felt like doing to him as well.

Acknowledgment
Still in my head ^_O.

=FYI=

OC’s
TBD. In other words, To Be Developed.

Plot
TBD as the Story Progresses

As aforementioned, Gears of War: Deployable Weapon is based on a dream, and anyone who has those will know they never contain every single detail, and even if they did, the bane of every writer is that little nagging voice in the back of the head that keeps saying it doesn’t sound right the way it is, or won’t work if it’s done that way, and so on. So, it goes without saying that the Chapters above have already undergone several changes from what was originally in my head, and what is to come will no doubt do the same as well.

Starting from ACT 2 of the second game means there will be dialogue and events fellow Gearheads (lol, see, told you that name has stuck, Lobo!) will recognize immediately, while other parts will have you going “Ah, no, that isn’t right. What? Huh?” Therefore, it is asked that anyone who reads this please remember that it is an NFC version, and again, based on a dream at that, so there is absolutely no following what has already been established at all, especially once the story gets to ACT 3, because that is where Deployable Weapon will deviate from the game completely.

Critiques & Help
Oh yes, it has got to be said I am so open to honest, respectful reviewing of what I am writing, a nudge here, or a poke there if there are grammatical or spelling errors, or even if you think a certain part could sound better ‘‘if it was written like this’’, etc. On the other hand, please don’t edit the story without my permission, but I think that pretty much goes without saying ^_^.

Additionally, being new to the world that is Gears of War, I please ask that you bear with anything that is blatantly incorrect, and please, please head to my talk page and point it out to me immediately. The reason I ask this is because my version of Fan Fiction has always been to stick as close to canon as possible, yet with plausible changes, additional characters, and events I personally did not like being rewritten.