Gears of War: Engine of War chapter 2
-Chapter 2-
Mark watched silently as the surfaced whisked by under the Raven, lost in thoughts about the entire war so far...and what everyone had lost along the way. Sometimes he even wondered how it had come to this...how had this war become more of a struggle for survival than a war at all. Everyone who was left had watched countless comrades fall to the Locust horde...and there was still no end of this bloody fight in sight. Below, he could see old wreckage of COG vehicles here and there...scars left by the war. Off in the distance, much too far away to even begin to count, more Ravens were heading for the rigs that would get them to Landown, and that swarm of Ravens is where they were currently headed, slowly but surely managing to catch up. After a while longer he pulled his right leg up into the Raven and turned to face his squadmates with a soft sigh. Mike looked up at him and tilted his head slightly.
"Mark...everything alright man?"
"Yeah...yeah....just thinking is all Mike..."
"What about?"
"Just this whole war Mike....how did it all come to this? We're barely hanging on man...and these Locust just keep coming...and we've all already seen and lost so much."
"Sir." Cheryl said softly, "With all due respect...isn't it better to let the past go and think about the present?"
Mark looked over at her and laughed softly, "Cheryl...you're right but...you also can't keep sorrows bottled up inside of you either. It's not good for you."
"I understand sir but-"
"Hey! If you had any idea what he's been through to get to where he is today you wouldn't be saying that!" Mike interjected.
"Mike!" Mark said sternly, "It's fine, she doesn't know, so let it be."
"Fine..."
Mark then removed his helmet, once again revealing his handsome facial features...especially those crimson eyes of his, and then tossed it over the edge of the Raven. He had a few tears in his eyes, but quickly wiped them away before returning to his position at the side of the Raven, right leg dangling off the edge.
Rick leaned over to Cheryl and asked softly, "What did he do that for?"
"Hell if I know rook....but I guess he knows what he's doing." she said before taking off her own helmet and tossing it off the edge as well, "As for me...I've always hated that thing anyhow."
"Well I'm keepin' mine.." Mike said.
"Same here!" Rick declared.
Mark was again staring down at the terrain below, the wind now caressing acrossed his surprisingly well groomed fur, making it wave slightly with each powerful gust. His lancer rifle was now held at the ready as his keen eyes narrowed upon the terrain below. Something definitely wasn't right here, they were halfway to Landown and the Locust hadn't even popped up anywhere yet.
"I smell somthin'....and it ain't grandma's home cookin'." he said in a low voice.
Mike snickered and moved over beside him, croutching down, "Good...that bitch can't cook anyway."
Mark chuckled and elbowed him playfully, almost making him topple to the side, "Yeah? Well I bet the Locust are cookin' up some trouble...so I think I'd take grandma's shitty cooking any day of the week..."
Mike looked back at Cheryl and motioned for her to look off the other side, "Any sign of Nemesis or reavers?"
"Nope, all clear."
He then looked back to Mark and tapped his head, "I think it's all in your head there bud."
"We'll see..." Mark said softly.
Just then, the pilot's voice rang through all of their earpieces, "Beta, keep your eyes peeled, we have a fresh crash up ahead....looks like...Raven B-19. They left just before us...no survivors."
"Still think it's all in my head Mike?" Mark asked, looking up at him before returning his gaze to the surface.
Mike shook his head and then took a position on the other side of the Raven, keeping a sharp eye out for an enemy threat. After a few moments, the crash site passed under them, obviously a Nemesis explosion had taken it down. It had two holes in the left side where they had hit...no signs of bodies, let alone survivors.
"Thats odd...." Mark thought, "Usually something is left of em'...."
Mark's thoughts were broken as a blur of gray and black whizzed about 4 feet away from the Raven and struck the ground below, leaving a small crater...but no remains behind.
"Shit! We got Nemesis!" he cried, hopping up in an instant and searching the skies.
"We got more! Left side!" Cheryl shouted.
"Reavers too!" Mike yelled, pointing directly behind them.
"Fuck!" Mark said as he hopped on the Raven's stationary turret and took aim behind them, "C'mon you bastards...poke your ugly heads out on this side.."
Mike then hopped on the other turret and took aim as well, though he looked to Cheryl a moment, "Cheryl! You and the rook watch those Nemesis! Don't let em' get close!"
"Right!" they replied in unison.
Just then, one of the Reavers swerved to the right, giving Mark a clear shot, which he took without delay as the turrets barrel began spinning and then quickly fired off about 20 rounds into the flying beast. The reaver howled and slowly descended towards the surface, both pilots bailing out...he had taken it out.
"Yeah! Thats right you bastards! Suck it!" he cried triumphantly.
"Hold tight Beta, taking evasive action!" the pilot's voice rang through their ears yet again.
The Raven instantly began swerving this way and that, narrowly dodging a few Nemesis that Cheryl and Rick couldn't hit. during all of this, the other reaver came into Mike's view and he, just as Mark had done, fired off 20 rounds with his turret into it and it began spiraling towards the ground.
"Oh yeah! Another one bites the dust!" he shouted.
"Don't get cocky mike, theres two on your right!" Cheryl yelled.
Mike grumbled to himself and turned the turret to face the two coming up from his right and immediately opened fire, sending a hailstorm of bullets off in their direction. Meanwhile, off on Mark's end, he had begun spotting Locust ground troops on the move below them and was currently blasting any that he could so that there would be less to kill good soldiers later. He could hear their howls of pain as the bullets shredded through their bodies with massive sprays of blood and gore...and that only made him want to keep it up.
"Thats right! Suffer you fuckheads! Suffer like you made my men suffer! Like I've suffered!"
"Another Reaver down!" Mike yelled victoriously, focusing all his fire on the second one now.
Suddenly a Nemesis xploded just a few feet away from the Raven, causing it to sway to the right from the aftershock. Mark stopped firing and looked over his should at Cheryl.
"Damnit Cheryl! You and the rook are letting them get too close!"
"Sir theres too many!" Rick shouted as he pointed off in the distance at an entire swarm of Nemesis.
Mark froze where he was when he saw them. There were easily 100 of the freaky floating bastards with another 30 barreling right for them. He had to think fast, he couldn't tell Mike to stop firing at the other Reaver or else that would take them down. Then again...like this they were almost a sitting duck...there was no way Cheryl and the rook could hit them all before at least one got there...hell even if he had joined them it might not be enough.
"Ahhhh....SHIT!" Mark cried a he hopped off the turret and began fireing at the oncoming Nemesis, "Take out as many as you can! We aren't goin' down without a fight!"
"Yes sir!"
So...the three of them fired away, managing to pick off quite a few of the Nemesis before they even came close...but it wasn't enough. There were still about 15 Nemesis and they were coming fast. All there was left to do now was brace for impact and pray.
"Brace for impact Beta!" Mark shouted as he latched onto the wall.
"Ahhhhh fuck!" Rick yelled as he latched onto the opposite wall.
Cheryl dove over beside Mark and Mike, well, he wasn't about to let his team die...so he turned his turret and opened fire, hitting about 7 more...the rest escaped him.
"Here it comes!" he shouted, closing his eyes tight.
But just as they were about to hit, several streams of bullets rained down upon the Nemesis from above and blew every last one of them to bits. They had been saved!
"Wooooo! Beta, this is Alpha Seven! Did yo' rookie piss his pants yet Mark?" Cole's voice came through their earpieces.
"Cole!" Mark cried happily, "Nope, he's dry...I think I just shit my pants though!"
"Hehehe, Well get yo'self cleaned up man, this ain't no time to be gettin' scared!"
"Will do Cole," Mark replied, laughing a bit, "Good to have you here by the way."
"Yeah...good to have me savin' yo' ass you mean! Hahah!"
"Ahhh just shut up and reload Cole, the rigs are up ahead."
Then a new voice came over their COMs, "Raven A-119, good to see you're still in one piece, this is Raven squadron Zeta and we're covering you."
"Rodger Zeta, thanks." Mark replied.
"No problem. Suggest ya'll get your skinny asses down there with Major Doc. Revan ASAP." the voice said.
"Wilco, Beta out."
"Beta, we are on approach to your drop zone. You can jump out in 15 seconds." their pilot said.
"Rodger, and great flyin'." Mark said.
"Thank you sir, been doin' it for two years."
"Alright Beta! Go go go!" Mark shouted.
The four members of beta three promptly hopped out of the Raven as it touched down for a few seconds, then quickly took to the air again to rejoin the Zeta squadron. Within seconds of their arrival, a rather muscular male approached them from the rig nearby and extended a paw to Mark.
"Sergeant Mark Hart?" he said.
Mark took his paw and shook it firmly, "Yes sir."
The Major was a tall raccoon, muscular too. he had forest green eyes and the trademark mask and tail of the raccoon species. Not to mention all the scars that adorned his face. This guy had seen his fair share of combat.
"Bout time you got here son!" he said flatly.
"We were delayed because we had to pickup two new recruits sir." Mike stated.
"Well I don't want yer excuses...so get yer asses on that rig pronto!"
"Yes sir!" they replied in unison before moving to the rigs ladder.
Up on top of the rig, there was a single turret mounted for defense, and of course, a cockpit with bullet proof glass. All the rest would be up to the squads that now took cover on the top. There were Mark and his squad, Alpha Five, and Beta six, a total of 12 COG soldiers. The Major made his way into the cockpit, did a routine systems check, and then fired up its massive engine. His voice then came on over the soldiers COMs.
"Now, I'm sure I don't need to remind you that this rig is y'alls ticket into the Hollow. If it gets busted, you ain't goin' nowhere...and not to mention, I'm gonna kick all yer raggedy asses! Is that clear?"
All the soldiers replied at once, "Sir yes sir!"
"Good, now get ready, we still got 5 miles till we reach Landown, anything can happen. So good luck!"
With that said, the rig gave a sudden jerk, and they were off, along with about 4 others. Cheryl made her way over to Mark and put a paw on his shoulder, smiling softly. He slowly turned to face her and smiled back.
"We did good up there huh?" she asked.
"Yeah...yeah we did." he replied, turning his gaze to the azure blue sky above.
"Sir theres...." Cheryl tried to begin...but she simply trailed off.
"Theres what...?" he asked, returning his gaze to her blue eyes.
"W-well umm.....you....ahhh...theres somthing I've been wanting to tell you sir...or rather ask you."
"And that is....?"
"Well...why did you ever wear that mask in the first place like everyone else...you look much better like this...more handsome too..." she replied, blushing deep crimson at her own words.
"Because I was told to, simple as that....thanks for the compliment thought Cheryl, I appreciate it." he said with a soft smile.
"O-oh...I see...and....you're welcome sir."
"Please, you are very nearly my rank...just call me Mark."
"Yes s-...uhh...I mean...Mark." she said softly.
Mark could have sworn he picked up a sort of swooning quality of tone in her voice...but that would have to be looked in to later. There was still alot of ground to cover before Landown and they were already encountering Locust bodies from the two waves that went before them.
"Hopefully this is ALL we will encounter..." Mark thought to himself.
The struggle for Landown, though no one knew it, had only just begun.
-End Chapter-