So here is the next chapter. Basically, it's going to follow the third game storyline with a little variation but yeah... Hope you enjoy it if you read it

Baird looked back at the lieutenant, asking rather abrasively, "Um what?" Anya held her gaze right at him, "That's right, You guys are going to take him with you on your supply run okay?"

"Why," he said in a whining tone, "that Stranded brat will probably knife us in the back?" Anya looked over Baird's shoulder over to the said teen who was sitting patiently and calmly on a couch in the captain's room.

"Look," she said turning her attention back to the blonde man, "I don't think he would do that but either way, if he does do something like that on this ship, it will pose a threat to the rest of Sovereign's passengers."

The blonde man groaned and Sam walked up and poked the blonde in the shoulder, "What's the matter," She said, "Can't handle a big scary hundred-pound kid?"

Shaking his shoulders of the Australian's finger, he grumbled and muttered some indiscernible words under his breath.

Then a certain thrashball player walked up putting his hand on Baird's other shoulder, "We gotcha Anya, we'll take him out for a walk" Anya smiled at Cole, "Thanks Cole, besides, I'm sure he could use some fresh air."

As the wind whipped by Alix sat in the Raven calmly but tensely as the large dangerous looking man with tattoos down his arms sat next to him. The teen eyed the man's helmet out of the corner of his eyes warily, to see if he was being watched, then down at the man's hands that were on his lancer.

Across from him, the dark-skinned Australian leaned forward, causing the teen's eyes to snap forward onto her. "Hey guys, you all right" she asked, projecting her voice over the chopping blades of the aircraft, "You're awfully quiet."

With a hint of slight joking annoyance, the man with the helmet spoke up, "Someone's gotta be, with Baird yapping all the time."

Without saying a word, Alix watched as the woman looked at both of them and chuckled, "Oh, I could gag him if you like. Be my treat." Then turning his attention to the loudand obnoxious voice that seemed to easily overcome the chopping of the helicopter blades and the berating beating of the wind.

"Uh, remind me why we though Hanover was a good place to look for supplies," asked the blonde mechanic as he stood and looked out over the ruined city of Hanover from the Raven.

Putting a hand reassuringly on the blonde man's shoulder, the large black man stated confidently, "Baby, you gotta trust the Cole Train to find the goods. This is my turf! Cougars territory!"

Rolling his eyes, Baird muttered sarcastically, "Yeah, 'cause that's gonna count for a lot right now." Turning his head slightly, he glanced over at the teen with cuffs around his hands sitting by Carmine.

He looked at the boy's solid scowl on the thin lips on his young face and watched as the boy's hair whipped around in the wind. Then suddenly, the boy's eyes were on him, and he saw a deep and lush blue like the midnight and moonlit night.

Immediately he noticed himself staring and averted his eyes quickly and spoke into his communication earpiece, "Okay Seven-Zero, we'll call you back if we find something."

"Roger that," called the pilot as the Raven landed, "Good hunting."

As the aircraft touched down, Sam and Carmine got up and the Australian came over to Alix. "Okay I'm going to take your cuffs off now," she said calmly, "Okay?" The teen could tell she was still wary even if he had no intention to run or fight them now.

"Yeah so try not to try to kill us," Baird spoke up, "Wouldn't want to have to shoot you." Alix glared coldly at the blonde man as Sam sighed and unlocked his cuffs, "Forget about my idiot friend, kid."

As the metal cuffs came loose, the Australian took them aside and the young stranded massaged his reddened wrists tenderly, enjoying the feel of the absence of the harsh and abrasive metal.

Then he stood and he and the four other GEAR troops jumped down off the Raven and onto the grassy earth. With that, the Raven took off at a wave of Cole's hand and the four troops spread out with their lancers in their hands.

"So this is home, eh Cole?" Sam asked the large Thrashball Player as they advanced over to some wreckage of buildings and lambent stalks.

"Classy," Baird noted, "Has it changed much since you've been away?"

"Hey, the whole damn world looks like this." He said, "Let's move out."

"Whoa, woah," Baird said motioning over to a crudely built wall of metal sheets with various warnings painted in red streaks all over it, "Take a look over there. I'm guessing that used to be a Stranded outpost."

"Ugh, Somehow, I don't think he died of natural causes," Sam said motioning over to a rotting, burning corpse of a previously living Stranded. Alix wrinkled his nose as the stench of the burning flesh filled his entire head.

Baird rolled his eyes and asked sarcastically, "Oh really doctor?"

Sam shot back with sarcasm and annoyance sewn into her tone, "Yeah, call it a woman's intuition."

Looking over to some charred remains of a man, Alix noticed something: a Hammerburst gun. Now, he wasn't going to take it or anything but it helped him to know should the need come, he'd be able to quickly grab a weapon and defend himself, whether it was lambent, Locust or, GEAR.

Unfortunately for him, a certain blonde man also noticed the gun and also noticed the teen Stranded eying it. Bending down over it, he popped the ammo pack out of it and took it for himself. "Aaand I'll take that," he said knowing fully well that the teen was now glaring knives at him, "could always use more."

While he did this Alix grew even colder and angrier as he imagined all the different ways a blonde COG soldier with goggles might die. Though he didn't show it, he attempted to brush it off without a word and followed the others around the blazing fires and dead corpses.

As they continued to look around the wreckage and the bodies, Baird said aloud, "Told you this was gonna be a waste of time." As he said this, he kicked over a small rock and watched it tumble over in the grass and land right next to Alix. The teen's blue eyes looked up and into Bairds, and for a moment, they looked as soft as a cloud-dotted sky. This was until they hardened coldly like sharp icicles.

"There's gotta be more outposts around here," Cole said hopefully, as he unknowingly stepped in between Alix and Baird "Let's keep lookin'."

With that, they all turned from the abandoned and destroyed outpost and headed down the road and further into the city. The road was only remnants of what it used to be, and now it was broken and cracked with long dead and dormant lambent stalks bursting through the earth and destroying the houses on the sides.

"Oh Baird, look," Sam called out mock-longingly, "That house over there. I can see us – you and me, couple of kids a dog."

"Yeah," he said enthusiastically before switching back to sarcastically, "And my great big bottle of suicide pills."

"Well," Sam chuckled, "That'll save me poisoning your dinner."

"Yeah, you'll miss me one day."

"Only if somebody bumps my elbow."

"Ha. Ha. Ha."

As They advanced further on into the city toward what looked like another Stranded outpost, Alix Smirked slightly at the Australian's words: he's starting to actually kind of like these soldiers, well at least hate them less.

Suddenly, a bright searchlight shined down on them causing the troops and Alix to shield their eyes and Cole to shout out, "Whoa!"

"Hey you down there," a gritty and hoarse voice called out from a speaker, "Step into the light and do it slowly." The COG soldiers and the Stranded teen complied and slowly stepped forward toward the wall as they continued to shield their eyes. Again, the voice called out roughly, "Try anything dumb and we'll blow yer heads off!"

"Everybody chill," Cole said, specifically to Baird and Alix, before projecting his warm baritone voice to the top of the barricade, "Relax, my man! Safety's on!"

As light turned off, and the street returned to its dim and gray lighting, a scruffy Stranded man called out from atop the barricade, "Hey, it's the COG coming to civilize us! Oh whoopee!"

Stepping forward, Cole spoke calmly to the man who clearly did not enjoy their company "Yo, we all in the same boat. We just wanna trade for some food."

"Well we ain't got any spare food. And if we did, we wouldn't be trading it with you COG assholes," he said sarcastically with a wave of his hand.
"Oooooh… I'll give ya a side of bacon for her, though," he said as is voice changed into a low voice that sent chills running down Alix's back. The Stranded man openly eyed Sam from head to toe who in response donned a sharp scowl while threateningly adjusting her hold on her gun.

Carmine's mouth could be heard watering even through his helmet as he reminisced, "Oh, bacon."

Baird leaned over and turned to Cole with a smirk "Hey, take the deal Cole. I haven't had bacon in six months." Both Sam and Alix rolled their eyes clearly unamused with the 'men' of the group.

Waving Baird aside, speaking up calmly without the enthusiasm of Baird or Carmine or the annoyance of Sam and Alix, "Thanks but no thanks. Any other camps around?"

Waving aside the rejected offer, the man's voice returned to normal as he nonchalantly answered, "Some. You can try the warehouse down at the pier. Or the Stadium." Then the man smirked, which was visible as he adjusted his posture and slurred sarcastically, "'Course you gotta get past all the glowies first, but you hairy-assed heroes can breeze through all that shit!"

Alix heard Baird grumble something under his breathe, probably some snappy comeback to retort the Stranded man's complimenting insult. Then as he turned back forward, he found the man now staring at him with a somewhat puzzled look, though it hardly differentiated from his normal, albeit physically unappealing face.

"Say, what are you doing with that kid over there? He a Stranded?" Alix Froze at the sound of the man's voice as he gestured over to him.

"Yeah this brat is, you want him?" a certain goggle-headed blonde offered. Alix, again, turned and glared at Baird, feeling the sudden urge to elbow him in the side. As much as he disliked the blonde idiot, at least a moronic COG soldier with a gun was better than a horny, ratty, Stranded who probably doesn't even know how to shoot a gun. Alix would probably live longer with Gears than Stranded anyways.

"Well seeing as you love his company so much I'll have to politely pass on that," the man shrugged as he shook his head. A small wave of relief washed over Alix and he closed his eyes for a few seconds and breathed in through his nose.

"C'mon," Cole said, stepping over towards the sidewalk, "Let's keep moving."

As they turned to leave down through a building, the stranded man atop the barricade cackled and it echoed bitterly in Alix's head.

So there is that chapter. I realized that this is going to take awhile at this rate and I'd like to finish it sooner so I'll probably be trimming up the storyline since most of you reading this have already played the game. I'll probably only trim off what I don't think is absolutely necessary if I do though. But anyways thanks for reading, hope you liked it and please review! Thanks!