I do not own Gears of War or any of the characters.

Assault

Joseph watched as the two men walked through the village. COGs. Soldiers in the army they had left the cities to get away from. He couldn't believe they had actually been allowed in. But then, Reyna did sometimes have more of a bit of a tendency to be more trusting and lenient than she should. She could be tough as nails, but from time to time, she had moments of softness. Apparently, these two had found her on a good day.

"Lighten up, bro," Gary said, draping an arm around his shoulders. "They'll be gone soon."

"Somehow, I doubt it," Joseph said.

"Ah come on!" Gary chuckled. "Hey good news, Lizzie's going to be dropping by soon."

"Dude, she's our cousin," Joseph said.

"Barely!" Gary snorted. "She's our third cousin. And besides, I don't know if you've noticed, but there's not a whole lot of options out there ever since the Locust."

"It's still family, and it's still disgusting," Joseph said. "You'd be better off trying for Kait again. I'm sure Reyna couldn't say no much more painfully than she did last time."

"Now that's just cold," Gary said. "Here I am trying to be a good brother and shit and hook you up with your single and attractive cousin and you're over here telling me to fuck off."

"Yes," Joseph said, grinning knowingly. "Fuck off. Please, for the love of God, fuck off."

"Fine," Gary said. "Guess you don't want to know where I hid that modded lancer you wanted."

"Oh, you mean this one?" Joseph asked, holding up a lancer that had had a buttstock attached. "Yeah, you gotta get better at hiding shit, Gary."

"Shit," Gary said. "Fine. Whatever. I'm going to go make myself useful elsewhere."

"About time," Joseph said.

Gary flipped him off as he walked away and Joseph chuckled. He ragged on his brother a lot, but truthfully, there couldn't be a better brother. He was loyal, always had Joseph's back, and was constantly doing his best to try and find Joseph, lonely bastard that he was, a girlfriend. Of course, that last part was hampered slightly by the fact that Gary didn't really care what his dick was stuck into as long as it was alive, human, and female. Case and point, trying to get Joseph with their cousin, third or otherwise, Lizzie. Joseph would admit that Lizzie was extremely beautiful, but he definitely wasn't about to hook up with his cousin. There may not be a lot of people left compared to before the Locust war, but there were more options than their cousin. He hoped.

He sighed, shaking his head before going to find a better way to use his own time. After a couple more hours, the two former COG members left with Kait and her uncle Oscar. Joseph frowned as he watched them go. He didn't trust them. He didn't trust any COG, aside from Lizzie. Those two had promised to go and get a Fabricator for the village from Settlement Five, which was still under construction, but Joseph had a feeling they'd be bringing more than a fabricator. Like maybe a few dozen DeeBees.

"Joseph," Reyna said, walking over to him. "I know that look on your face."

Joseph sighed, reaching a hand up to rub the inside of his green eyes.

"You don't trust them," Reyna said. "Why?"

"We can't trust COG, ma'am," Joseph said, then winced. "Reyna. Sorry. They'd setting off my old habits."

"They left the COG just like you did," Reyna said. "And, like you, I agreed to allow them to stay as long as they don't cause any trouble. You've proven yourself trustworthy. Now we must give them that chance."

"You're too trusting," Joseph said. "Letting COG into this village is a mistake."

"Should I have turned you away when you arrived here, days away from dying?" Reyna asked.

"Yes," Joseph said. "That would have been the smart thing to do."

Reyna sighed. "You never did tell me what happened to you that ended with you nearly dead at our door."

Joseph sighed, running a hand through his dark brown hair. "You never actually asked. Well...there was an incident in which several DeeBees suddenly went out of control and started attacking anyone around them. this was back before they were given shock rounds, and is partially why they were given shock rounds to start with. A bunch of us gears were nearby off duty and went to help out. A couple of us died, I got shot all to hell, and after we finished putting the machines down, the whole incident was covered up. I went to the hospital and was told I'd have to pay to get treated since I was shot off duty in an incident that wasn't related to my job. Obviously, I couldn't afford to have fifteen bullets taken out of me, so I left to try to find someone who could help. About the same time, I got a call from the family of one of my friends who died. They said they were denied all the benefits they should have gotten from his death for the same reason I wasn't getting treated. So I left. I called my brother, found out where he was, and came here. He always said that if the day came I decided he was right about COG he'd help out, so..."

"I see," Reyna nodded. "I can understand why they covered it up. If word got out a bunch of DeeBees went rogue, First Minister Jinn would have lost her main method for forcing people in line."

Joseph grunted. "I don't trust anyone from COG. Except Lizzie."

"Well, you're going to have to trust these two," Reyna said. "They should be back soon with the Fabricator."

"And a bunch of angry DeeBees, probably," Joseph said.

"If you're really worried about it, go get your old armor on, and be ready for a fight," Reyna said. "Otherwise, can you go and see if you can get the power system ready for the Fabricator?"

Joseph sighed. "Sure. I'll see what I can do."

Reyna nodded and walked away. Joseph turned, heading to the power station. The Fabricator was so that they could make power cells, rather than stealing them. However, even disregarding that, the power system was old and unreliable. He had done what he could for it with the mechanic and electrician skills Lizzie had taught him growing up, and while they were a part of COG together, but the system needed new power cables, connectors, fuses, breakers. Everything, basically. Electrical tape could only fix so much.

Joseph sighed as he got done checking and rechecking the systems. Just as he stepped outside, a Condor, a massive plane the COG used to drop DeeBee troops, flew over head, a single twenty-sided-die-shaped drop pod crashing to the ground and bursting open, a white-armored DeeBee with a projector screen for a head standing and walking over to where Reyna, the Outsider Village's leader, was talking to the two former COGs, the Fabricator on the ground between them. Joseph swore, turning and sprinting to his and Gary's house, skidding to a stop beside his bed and reaching under it, pulling out his chest plate and helmet, pulling both on quickly before grabbing his magnetic ammo belt and modified Lancer, running back outside just as Reyna began to yell orders. He met her by the shelter as the children were being directed into it, and Reyna gave him a knowing look. Joseph simply nodded and walked over to where one of the two former COGs, the white one, where as the other was black, was typing on the Fabricator.

"Just want you to know, anyone who dies is on your head, COGs," Joseph said.

"You're the one wearing COG armor," the black one said.

"Del," the other said. "Look, I'm sorry about this, but it's not because of the Fabricator. We'll explain after."

He stood as the Fabricator formed an automated turret and he carried it away toward the stairwell off to the right, looking outward from the shelter's door. Joseph glared at him before turning and walking over to the left-side staircase, kneeling down and waiting. After a couple minutes, a Condor began to fly into view. Gary, who was on the wall's turret, opened fire, one wing of the plane exploding into flames.

"Hey, Carmine took it out!" Oscar said. "You see Kait, I'm an excellent teacher! I taught him everything he knows."

"I don't think excellent's the right word, Oscar," Joseph said, just as another Condor flew into view. "Shit! Here we go."

The dropship's cargo door opened and a dozen drop pods rolled out, exploding through the top of the gate where Gary was. Joseph's body went numb as he stared. It couldn't be. Gary wasn't gone. Right? He wouldn't be. He was too stubborn for that.

"Joseph!" Kait's voice shouted, just before several bullets whizzed past his head in both directions. "Joseph, come on! Snap out of it! I know it hurts, but right now we need you!"

Joseph grit his teeth and turned to the DeeBees in the village. He stood, opening fire in careful bursts, actually having to struggle not to simply spray bullets in his rage. DeeBees began to explode rapidly. He ran dry and crouched again, reloading quickly before standing again. Things seemed to blur slightly as his rage and pain drove his actions. He felt several rounds glance off of his helmet and chest plate. He remembered using the chainsaw to split one DeeBee in half, but the fight itself was a blur. He didn't remember when the front gate or the wall to the left of it exploded. He didn't remember when the upgraded DeeBees, who stood double a normal one's height arrived, or how. Same for the Trackers, knee-high balls of metal plates with explosive built into them. He just remembered going from shooting one type of DeeBees to shooting both normal and giant ones. The Trackers all exploded before they could get near them thanks to one of the others focusing on them. Finally, there were no DeeBees left, and Joseph turned, storming over to the white COG runaway and grabbing him by the front of his shirt, slamming him into a pillar.

"This is your fault!" Joseph shouted, voice cracking.

"Let him go!" Del said, aiming at Joseph, only for the white one to wave him off.

"You did this!" Joseph shouted.

"I'm sorry your village was attacked but-"

"I'm not talking about the village!" Joseph shouted. "Carmine! Gary! He...He was my brother." Joseph released him, stepping back as his anger faded into grief, all the strength leaving him at once.

"We don't have time for this!" Reyna said as Oscar finished making another auto turret and carried it away. "Jinn's going to send more DeeBees! Joseph, you need to hold it together! This fight's not done!"

Joseph looked over at her before nodding. "Alright."

He pushed himself up, picking up his lancer again and walking back to where he had been, grabbing an ammo crate from a stack off to one side as he did. He quickly refilled his rifle's cartridges, sticking them to his belt. After a moment, the white COG knelt beside him.

"I'm sorry about your brother," he said. "I didn't want anyone to die."

"That's too bad," Joseph said. "I'm still hoping two more get added to the list."

The COG sighed just before something exploded in the distance and a flying ball-like machine with a pair of turbines on the sides and a rocket launcher connected to its underside flew into view.

"GUARDIAN DEPLOYED," the robots synthetic voice announced. "TARGETS DETECTED."

It fired a barrage of rockets that blew up the front of the shelter's balcony, along with the statue in the middle of it.

"Oh shit!" Del swore. "Jinn upgraded the Watchers too!?"

Joseph leaned out, aiming at the Guardian just as a transparent white energy barrier appeared in front of it, a small notch at the bottom allowing the Guardian to fire. Joseph fired at it experimentally, but his bullets bounced off the shield harmlessly.

"Great!" Joseph said, ducking back into cover as DeeBees began to shoot at him. "Now what?"

"Someone needs to draw its fire off to the side so we can shoot it in the back!" Del shouted over the gunfire.

"Excellent idea!" Joseph said. "You got this!"

He patted the white COG on the shoulder, and the guy rolled his eyes.

"Sure," he said. "Why not. Cover me!"

Everyone leaned out, firing at the DeeBees and taking a handful of them down as the COG sprinted down the stairs and off to the side, shooting several DeeBees as he did. The Guardian turned after him and everyone else began to pepper its newly exposed back with bullets, bringing it down in seconds. Then, they switched tot he rest of the DeeBees and finished them off within another minute. Just as they did, a Condor flew overhead, dropping a dozen Trackers just as two more Guardians arrived.

"God dammit!" Joseph shouted as a stray rocket from a Guardian blew up the living room of his house. "Leave my house alone you asshole!" He began to spray the guardian, drawing its attention. However, just as his gun ran dry, the shield flashed and broke apart, fading. "Shoot it!"

The others took it out in seconds just as the white COG reached the first Guardian, ripping the rocket launcher off the bottom of it and turning, opening fire on the last one. Within seconds, the shield was gone, and two rockets later, the Guardian exploded into a fireball on the ground. Joseph sighed, finishing reloading his rifle and waiting for a moment, looking around. Then, another Condor flew over, dropping a half dozen pods, each with one of the giant DeeBees in them. joseph grumbled a string of curses under his breath, beginning to fire at them, the others doing the same.

"How fucking long is this going to go on for!?" Joseph asked.

"She can go as long as she wants!" Reyna said. "She's got an army of them!"

"Great!" Joseph said sarcastically. "I'm so glad we trusted COG rejects!"

The building across from the shelter exploded suddenly and a half-dozen giant DeeBees walked out of the flames with rocket launchers and Tri-Shots, machine guns with three rotating barrels that were made of cheap materials and slowed down as they heated up, making them barely useful as a machine gun. Joseph shifted his sights to those six, letting the others finish off the ones that were closer, since they were all nearly dead anyway, and within a few moments, the others were finished the closer ones and began to target the further out ones as well. As they did, another Guardian arrived, several of the others firing at it. When its shield dropped, Joseph began to shoot at it as well, and a moment later it crashed down on the last DeeBee, exploding and destroying both. Joseph remained where he was for a few more moments before standing.

"Is that it?" Joseph asked. "Is it over?"

"I think so," Oscar said. "Come on. I'll help you get your brother."

Joseph nodded and they headed up to the top of the wall, stopping as they found Gary. He had been hit directly, and his chest had been crushed flat. Joseph grimaced, ripping a blanket from the wall beside them and draping it over Gary, wrapping it around him before he and Oscar lifted him, carrying him back down tot he courtyard where Kait and the two COGs were salvaging parts from the DeeBees. Joseph ignored them, instead taking his brother to the cemetery while Oscar went to talk to Reyna, who was on a warpath, storming toward the two COGs.

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