Rage of the Red Cross

-1 month prior to Gears of War 3-

"And, ker-blammo! The damn grub didn't know what hit him! That's what ye' get for messin' with the real folk of Sera!"

Life was not easy for the Stranded of Sera, especially since the Locust and the COG were constantly fighting, and with humanity getting boned in the ass by the great big thrust that was the Locust war machine, the COG was seemingly on its last legs. It was tough fighting against an enemy that was hell-bent on annihilation, and with the destruction of Jacinto, there was no longer a safe refuge, but then again there was no more Hollow, at least for the majority of Sera. Who knows how many tunnels the grubs dug?

The Stranded camp in what was left of the Southern islands was the closest thing to what safety could be found in the ruins of Sera. Not too many people nor Locust were spotted here. Ideal for Stranded. The sunny skies and clear waters were a haven for the refugees of post E-Day Sera.

"Tell us more!" A child, who could not have been beyond the age of ten, spoke happily. His mother, wearing tattered clothing and a tan hoodie, stood above him, a sawed-off shotgun at her side.

"Sorry little one, no can do." The man, a gruff gray-bearded man from the North, as his accent showed, got up and walked to his tent, located just behind the turret on the walls surrounding their camp. "I'll finish the story tomorrow after my shift. Now you be a good boy, you here?"

"I will!" And then the child ran off. There were other kids here as well, refugees from the city orphanages that had escaped the Nemacyst bombardments, or the Kryll infestations.

"It's strange, isn't it Brendan?" The child's mother asked, the man's name revealed. "Seeing kids again. When was the last time you saw kids?"

"Back when Ilima was still above ground." Brendan sighed out. "You think this'll all be over soon? We can stop living in tents and camps and start actually living again as a society?"

"Life will return to normal, Brendan. Hope isn't always there when you need it, but some day it will come. We just have to wait." The mother said, and walked off to find her runaway son, who had entered the large building which doubled as the armory and the living quarters of the Stranded who were too weak to fight or too young.

Brendan sighed again, his trademark action. How long has it been since Jacinto, two years? Feels like longer. But every day with no Locust or even some other rowdy Stranded was a good day in Brendan's eyes.

"Yo, B!" The tower watchman yelled down, "We got scouts coming back! And they got a friend." The man's longshot was aimed somewhere down east, where most of the rumored supply bunkers were buried in wartime emergencies. Scouts often visited, but the risk to go there was immense; pools of imulsion carved the once-busy streets, making traversing the east hard as hell. To say that the scouts brought a friend was astonishing.

"Who is it?" Brendan asked.

"Dunno. Wearing black armor, blue biolights…" The man focused with his scope. "Oh man, that's an Onyx Guard they got!"

After the collapse of the COG with the disappearance of Chairman Prescott, most of the COG forces went into a state of survival, scrounging whatever resources they could pick up from what remained. Rumor has it that most of the COG went on some ship, the CNV Sovereign near the island of Vectes. The ship was immense, and it was smart to stay in the water; Locust weren't fond of digging beneath an ocean.

The elite of the COG forces, such as the golden gears and the Onyx Guard went down the same path, but some stayed true to their word and protected what little remained of their leadership. But finding an Onyx Guard here, in the ass-end of nowhere, spiked Brendan's curiosity. They would never venture this far south without something eyeing their interests, or their leader's.

"An Onyx Guard, really? You sure that's not just your old age?"

"Nu-uh! I know an Onyx Guard when I see one! Shit, she don't look too good. Looks like she got gang-banged by a hive of tickers." The watchman stood aside for Brendan to climb up on the watchtower and grab his own longshot, and true to the old man's word there was a female Onyx Guard being carried by one of the bigger scouts. The girl's lancer was held limply in her hand, the chainsaw bayonet coated with blood and imulsion. Her body was splattered with blood, some of it probably her own.

"Hey let us in! We gots a wounded!" One of the scouts yelled. The gate opened, and just in time. Bullets flew over the scout's head, alerting the camp to what appeared to be a single Locust hunter. Brendan aimed the longshot and fired, the Locust's head exploding into a pop.

"Damn, just one?" The old man wondered. "There's never just one."

"Yeah, well, talk to her." The scout carrying the Onyx Guard said. "She cut through them grubs like old cheese, but one of 'em got a potshot and dropped her. Would have died if it weren't for us." The Onyx Guard moaned weakly, blood escaping the cracked plates of black armor.

"Well, bring her in! We can't have a dead Onyx Guard on our hands, can we? Not with all the good secrets they carry." Brendan shouted, and muttered the last part to himself. His distrust of the COG was not as large as the other's, some outright hated them, but he didn't like the secrecy of what they were known for. Experimentations, sabotage of Stranded camps, and even data for the Hammer of Dawn guidance lasers. Onyx Guards were rumored to know every little secret the COG kept hidden, and now with one of them in Stranded custody, they might get to know everything about the war.

"Sure thing boss." The gate opened, and medical aid rushed to collect the wounded woman. The scout carrying her passed a geobot, about the size of a human head, to Brendan's hands.

"She was carrying this. Before she passed out she told us to grab it." The scout said quietly to Brendan. "And she wasn't alone. There was a whole squad of Onyx down there, maybe a couple dozen. They were looking for something buried in the ground, Brendan. Something that the Locust found. Before the Hollow was flooded out."

"Do you think whatever's in here will tell us what they were trying to find?" Brendan asked, hefting the geobot.

"I don't know. She probably knows, and whatever it is I'm guessing it's not going to be good." The scout wandered off, his squad waiting him as he entered the building. Brendan peered at the geobot in his hand. Just what did she find down there? The man looked to see the Onyx Guard being carried away by a doctor and his team of nurses and decided to follow them. Her lancer was taken by one of the gunsmiths, eager to have another lancer mark II in the armory.

"Doctor, how is she?" Brendan asked as they entered what remained of the town's hospital. If supplies were low in groceries and pharmacies, hospitals were practically vacant. Thankfully, this island's town had a pretty secure locking code which Brendan's Stranded managed to crack open. The goldmine of medical aid was a godsend to them.

"She'll live." Was what the doctor replied. "It'll be a pain to get the bullets out, but with some time she'll heal." The group entered an open room with an IV bag and some medical tools. The clambering of other doctors and nurses working on other patients were a constant in the hospital. Rustlung and battle wounds were the most common, the moans and the coughing echoed even into the camp outside. The nurses left to keep the doctor alone, but Brendan stayed.

"Doc, you mind if I talk to her?" Brendan held the geobot up. "One of scouts said she was looking for something." The doctor stared at Brendan, and then the geobot, and then left, leaving the wounded Onyx Guard and the Stranded leader alone.

"Hey." Brendan tapped the black helmet she wore. The blue eye protectors were cracked but online. He knew that she could see if she were still awake. A low groan, and the woman's arm reached for her head. She wheezed, and finally spoke.

"Where… am I?" She asked. She had an accent, either she was from the North like he was or was one of the Tyrans. Her hand waved in front of her face, trying to divert the bright lights of the hospital lamps.

"You're in good hands." Brendan said as he sat down on a chair, and the Onyx Guard looked left to see the Stranded leader and laughed. It was a weak laugh, which was followed by coughing and her body spasms in pain. It seemed that she believed contrary to what Brendan said.

"Really? Me, an Onyx Guard, in Stranded hands. Might as well rip off my armor now and put my face between your legs." She said, and Brendan snarled at the immense accusation of such a hateful act. He knew Stranded that did that to other Stranded, even captured COG soldiers. It was disgusting.

"I am not going to rape you." He said vehemently, distancing himself from what she saw in him.

"Could've fooled me, Stranded." She looked downwards to see her geobot in Brendan's hand. "Give me that. Right now!" She demanded, and would have stood up if it weren't for the immense pain in her stomach. She clutched her side, where a gnasher shotgun got a lucky hit on her gut.

"Not before you tell us what you were doing down there. We haven't seen COG forces in little over two years, and now you decide to just pop back up again. This time, on our island. Kinda makes a man wonder." Brendan said out loud, and behold two armed guards, one of them carrying her lancer stepped in. They knew it would be really dumb to kill her, but to add intimidation. Brendan was used to scaring away other Stranded and the occasional savage Locust, but an Onyx Guard might be another story.

"If you're trying to scare me, you might as well be trying to do this to a Berserker." She said plainly, and the two guards looked at each other in nervousness. This woman wasn't even slightly afraid, and if she was she was doing an expert job at it. "Look, it's nice of you Stranded to just pick me up and drop me off in your hospital, but if you're trying to play nice to see the stuff on that geobot, it's classified. Y'know, secret shit that normal people aren't supposed to see?"

"Nobody's normal anymore, COG." One of guards spat out. "You just might be the last of the Onyx Guard, so keep that in mind."

"Huh. That's a sobering thought. What happened to the rest of my squad?" She asked.

"They're dead." The other guard said. "Anthony said that the rest of you were slaughtered by the pair of Brumaks he found dead near where he found you." The Onyx Guard was silent for a brief second. Hearing that her squad was dead, and her alive, confirmed what the Stranded guard said; she was indeed the last of the Onyx Guard.

"Damn…" She mumbled to herself. She turned to Brendan. "Will you let me go if I tell you what's on that geobot? It's not like I have anyone to report to anymore, and there's no way in hell that I'm getting back to New Jacinto now." She said somberly, and Brendan felt pity for the last Onyx Guard alive.

"You'll be let go, but not before I know what's on here." Brendan made his point by shaking the geobot. "Normally I don't care about the COG and what it does, but with you being here and my people in potential risk from whatever you found, I think I deserve answers when you heal up." And then he left, the two guards behind him. Inside the room, the Onyx Guard stared at the ceiling, knowing whether or not it would be a good idea to trust the Stranded leader. Who would he tell? The UIR? They aren't faring much better than the COG. Other Stranded? These people weren't an army. If she could live up to her part of the bargain, then telling them would probably have no consequences. Unless Prescott was still alive, which was hard to believe since Azura had been taken by the Locust. Even if she got help, who would answer the call? Marcus Fenix? Yeah, right. Like he would help the Onyx Guard, but she was hopeful, and would take that bet once she was better.

Outside, Brendan stared at the geobot. There had been a squad of Onyx Guards on the island, and he hadn't known. Even with living here for nearly two years the world could still surprise him, even in the middle of nowhere. Just what where the Onyx looking for underground, and then there are the Locust. By the looks of things, the COG had found something that the Locust wanted to keep secret and the damn grubs tried their damnest to keep it quiet.

And it was all in the chrome machine that he held.

"Hey Fredrick, how's that Raven we have?" He asked the man next to him tinkering with a boomshot he scavenged. Fredrick was the camp's resident engineer and repairman, and was very stingy with whatever little supplies came their way in terms of spare parts. The Raven he was referencing was the one he found in the airfield. The COG must have simply forgotten about it.

"You mean the rustbucket flying machine? It's alright, I guess. I'm the only one who can fly it anyway. Why? You're not going back up the mountain again, are ya?" Fredrick asked. The Raven was a very hot topic with the Stranded. Many wanted the parts to make new tools and remove the weapons to help make new fortifications. Fredrick however, who was in charge of anything that involved vehicles and weapons, made sure that it was to be taken care of properly.

"I've got a female Onyx Guard who's going to lead us up there when she's back up on her feet. And yes, female and Onyx Guard are what I said, so keep your mouth shut. Don't want flies in your mouth when you've got a chopper to fly." Brendan said, and help up the geobot. "She was snooping around the mountain with this thingy, said the Locust were hiding something important."

"And what are you going to do, fight them?" Fredrick asked incredulously. "You couldn't even kill a wretch with your piss-poor aim. The Locust would tear you to bits."

"I'm not the one who's going to fight. She's going to show us what she found, and then that's it." Brendan said, quietly cursing Fredrick for calling out is aiming skills, or lack thereof. "Oh, and get Samuel to get the radios back online. I have a feeling that whatever she found, she'll want to tell someone."

-Elsewhere-

"Look Damien! I'm a titan, here to eat you! Rawr!" The young girl laughed as she chased her friend through the forest, and the young boy in front of her was laughing as well. She held her arms up high, ready to grab the boy and pretend to eat him alive. They both knew that titans were no joke, but the world didn't revolve around the pain and misery of others. They just wanted to have fun, and then grow up to deal with the real world.

"Oh no! Wait, I'm a Scout! I'll slice your neck!" The boy Damien yelled back and pretended to soar across the forest with make-believe ODM gear. He held out his hands, as if clutching real swords, and proceeded to whack his friend with the pretend swords. She collapsed, and fell down face-first into the dirt, making steam waves with her fingers above her body.

"I'm dead, and you're the hero again Damien!" The girl laughed loudly, practically drowning the whole forest with her voice. Damien laughed alongside her.

"Hey Sophia, maybe next time I'll be the titan. The sun's getting down, let's go home." Damien lifted Sophia off the ground, the orange sky giving them a rather beautiful view of the forest. The two friends started walking back, but then heard a small noise.

Ticktickticktick

"Hey, Damien. You hear that?" Sophia asked her friend, who had also heard the strange ticking noise. Damien stopped to look around, trying to home in to the source of the noise. He figured it was just their imagination or some animal mating call, but as he turned to walk away he heard it again.

TICKTICKTICKTICK

"Damien, it's getting louder!" Sophia cried out, now scared of the strange noise. Damien was scared too, never in his life had he heard such a noise. It was unlike anything, and if it was related to the new noise, the scurrying of small arms on the ground, then it was indeed getting closer.

"DAMIEN!" Sophia screeched, and pointed to what was in front of her. It was a small, gray creature with a large ovular beak, with skinny appendages that ended with black talons. It was constantly shaking, and making the ticking noise that they heard earlier. It also had no eyes.

"What is that?" Damien whispered, shaking with fear. The creature must have heard him, or at least the spare change in his pocket, because it focused its eyeless gaze on him and shrieked. Damien screamed as the monster lunged, its razor-sharp limb raking Damien's pocket, scattering his allowance all over the ground. Damien tried to grab his allowance, but the creature's sharp talons lunged, and he just narrowly almost had his fingers cut off. Damien had to watch his allowance being eaten by the monster as he was dragged away from the scene by Sophia.

"C'mon Damien! Let's get outta here!" Sophia yelled at her friend, who was crying at his allowance being devoured by the monster. Never had they seen a creature such as that in Wall Rose. Was that a creature bred from the titans? Whatever it was, the monster was busy eating the coins to not notice, nor care, about the fleeing children.

"Should we tell the Garrison?" Damien said through his tears. "I just lost three weeks of my allowance!"

"Damien, we'll tell them, but stop making me drag you! Get up you wimp!" Sophia yelled, and dragged her friend away, hopefully to never see a monster like that again.

How wrong they were.