Chapter Two: Are We Dead?
Queen Myrrah was not a forgiving being.
From within the unfathomable depths of Sera’s vast interwoven tunnel network, locked away in an ancient fortress carved into the very earth, the leader of the Locust Horde sat upon her throne. She was most displeased. She had always demanded immediate updates on her army’s endeavors, and thus the news of her soldiers’ failure had reached her rather quickly. The surviving members of the advanced guard she had sent to watch over the humans’ filthy facility were brought before her. In a voice colder and blacker than the deepest bowels of Sera, she proclaimed the consequence of their misdeed. There was only one fate for those who committed the sin of failing the Queen.
“Death.”
With a guard’s pull of a lever, the floor beneath the pitiful guilty ones gave way, and they fell into the pits below. The royal honor guard remained absolutely still in the throne room, enabling all to hear the horror unfolding beneath them. A metal gate creaking open. A deep sniffing sound. The moans of the weak, struggling to stand after their fall. The roar of the Berserker. The wet tearing sound of the blind behemoth ripping them apart. Myrrah took no joy in punishing her children in such a manner, but her reign was absolute, as was her discipline.
As her attendant brought in her evening meal, the monarch felt the now familiar twinge in her mind of Sanguine reaching out to contact her. Clearing her thoughts, she closed her eyes and communed with the curious equine cultist.
“Your Majesty, we have nearly completed the receiving platforms, and the stability matrix spells are finally ready. We will be standing by when your troops make the jump.”
This news pleased her, almost as much as it loathed her to have to relay the misfortune of the humans’ interference.
“Unfortunately, there have been….setbacks, on our end.”
“Your Highness?”
“It seems that a contingent of humans have sabotaged the primary device. Its repair will take time. My children are attempting to find those responsible, but have lost their trail at the ruins of the machine. I am told that it is unlikely they escaped. The sabotage occurred during a test of the portal, and the collapse of the Modified Lightmass Field caused a violent explosion. Nothing in the Containment Chamber survived. Regardless, the other devices should become operational in a matter of days, and our plans shall proceed unhindered.”
“Excellent news your Highness. We shall await in readiness. Farewell, your Majesty.”
As Myrrah felt the foreign presence recede from her mind, a bleak smile spread over her lips. These ponies were fascinating creatures. Of particular interest to her were the unicorns, blessed with “magic” capable of seeking out entire new worlds. She would continue to watch them with great interest. In the meanwhile, she had another, more pressing matter.
“Scryed.” She spoke to the shadows.
A form materialized from the blackness. Tall and slender, but sharply toned with muscle. His teeth stained the color of rust with the blood of countless victims. His eyes, pitiless ebony gems gazing into the void. Clad in leather armor the hue of ravens, and carrying a wicked sword strapped to his back, he was in many ways the embodiment of the primordial fear of darkness. Even a few of the Theron Guards cringed slightly at his presence.
The Queen looked him over, inwardly beaming with pride at the magnificent specimen who stood now in her presence.
“You are my greatest assassin. My shadowy left hand, my dagger in the night. Never have you failed me in your duty.”
The menacing individual before her straightened slightly at her words, her coveted praise being the highest reward he could ever hope to achieve.
“And now, I have a new task for you…”
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The first thing that struck Marcus as unusual was the sky. It was absolutely pristine. It was painted a deep, saturated azure, so unlike the dirty gray skies to which he was accustomed. Birds sung happily as they fluttered through the air, a rare sight for the veteran soldier. The ravenous bat-like Kryll who came out in the shadowy nights tended to devour birds and their eggs wholesale, threatening to bring extinction to the entire Aves class. Here though, they were cheerful and abundant. The scene was beautiful in it’s simplicity. Marcus had never seen anything like it. Everywhere he had been since his childhood had either been ravaged by nearly a century of war, or developed into industrial jungles of concrete and steel. Even the forests near his childhood hometown had been dead and gray. The surreal moment was brought to an abrupt halt when he heard the other Gears stirring.
“Marcus…..are we dead?” Dom asked, eyeing the serene landscape.
“You know Dom, I’ll get back to you on that one.”
“Well my back sure seems to think we’re still alive,” Baird groaned, his joints creaking and popping as he forced himself upright. “Where in the COG’s name are we?”
“Hell if I know Baird. Last thing I remember, we were getting our asses handed to us a mile and a half underground.”
Marcus keyed his earpiece.
“Control, this is Delta.”
No response but static.
“Control, this is Delta, do you read? Anya, do you copy?”
The buzz of white noise continued to play in his ear. Marcus checked his communicator, but the transmitter and receiver were both in fine working order. Baird checked his GPS, but found he had similar difficulties. The equipment worked fine, but they simply had no signal.
“Man,” Baird said, deep in thought. “In order for us to be out of range of the satellites, either someone hauled us to the ass end of the globe when we weren’t looking, or…”
“Or?” Dom questioned.
“Or we were…I don’t know. Warped? Teleported? In fact, now that I think about it, I kind of felt like I was being broken down earlier, when Marcus blew us up.” Baird started pacing around the grove, his mind working overtime. “At first I figured that was just, you know, us dieing…but now I wonder if the Locust haven’t been toying around with some sort of warp technology. If I’m right, we just got broken down and beamed somewhere like we were television waves.”
Marcus had come to trust Baird’s theories over the years, even when they made no sense to him. “Which means, we could be anywhere. Great.” On the other hand, Marcus thought, it was better than being dead. It also gave him something new to worry about though. If the Locust were developing tech that allowed them to bypass the COG’s remaining defenses, then humanity may be well and truly screwed.
Cole had been spying their surroundings more closely, when suddenly he spoke up, a serious note in his tone. “Yo Marcus, check it out.” Sergeant Fenix followed his gaze. Twenty yards or so away, one of the Theron Guards lay, unconscious but breathing on the ground. As they drew closer, they saw that this solider was not alone. All around, the elite Locust were passed out.
“Why ain’t they up yet?” the former thrash ball star asked.
“Maybe they got hit harder by whatever the hell that light was, being closer and all,” Baird considered, “Or maybe it hit them harder because they’re Grubs. Their biology isn’t exactly human you know.”
“Either way, let’s clean this mess up, before it gets ugly.” Marcus said. Delta took advantage of their good fortune in having woken first, and proceeded to slit the throats of each of the comatose Locust guards.
“Alright, Delta.” Marcus called as they finished up, “Ammo check. We’re cut off until we can get back to COG territory. Supplies aren’t exactly guaranteed. Let’s conserve what we have.”
When all was said and done, with what they had strapped to their armor, combined with the usable arms they could strip from the dead Grubs, they had quite the formidable arsenal. Four Lancers, with nearly two thousand rounds of ammunition (and full Imulsion tanks for the bayonets), two Gnasher shotguns with about a hundred shells, one working Torque Bow with a quiver of a couple dozen exploding arrowheads, Marcus’ Longshot sniper rifle with twenty rounds of ammo, a handful of frag and incendiary grenades, two smoke screen grenades, four pistols with a few clips each, and their standard issue combat knives, which doubled as backup bayonets. They each had rations for a couple of days, and judging by their lush surroundings, water wouldn’t be an issue. Baird’s field kit was intact, so repairs and maintenance could be taken care of. The most remarkable find, however, was that Jack, their floating repair/recon drone had made the trip with them. With his onboard storage holds now brimming with extra ammunition, they were ready for whatever ugliness that came their way.
“Alright Gears, move out” As they had no bearings, they chose a direction at random, and soon they were rewarded with a clear path. Marcus ordered Cole and Baird to shadow them from a short distance to either side of the trail, ready to back them up in case of ambush.
Marcus and Dom marched along the trail for some time, their hidden squad mates tailing them the whole time. They came to a point where the trees began to thin out, and Marcus eased up on the pace a bit. They turned a corner…
….and to Marcus’ infinite surprise, they were met by a pair of pastel colored horses, each about three and a half feet tall, one of whom was wearing a cowboy hat.
“What the hay?” The one with the hat spoke.
It spoke.
“A fucking orange horse just....talked.” The thought rang around in his head. All else was forgotten. Marcus was so taken aback, he couldn’t even lift his rifle.
“Dom, I think we might actually be dead…”