• Things for the Coalition were heating up heavily as large sinkholes started devouring entire cities at one time. Smoke billowed darkly into the bright sky, almost blocking out the sun as buildings had collapsed, cars exploded on impact at such a devastating move. What was once a beautiful mountain vista was now nothing more than ruins, ravaged by the Locusts.

    Sgt. Aasera Fenix stood at the very edge of the sinkhole, her booted foot testing the strength of the ground as the dirt practically crumbled, debris still tumbling into the massive hole. Gloved fingers curled tightly into a balled up fist, anger dwelling darkly within her honey-brown eyes.

    "T-this is..." Izzy murmured beside his squad leader, his green eyes bugged out as he took in the ravaging scene.

    Jerome stepped up to Sera's other side with a boomshot in hand, his massive arms gripping the Locust weapon to his chest, "Horrible."

    Fenix pushed back the rustling locks of ebony, her eyes narrowing as she lifted her gaze to see many other Squads stepping up to see what all the fuss was about. "I don't think horrible can properly describe this..." she said in a mere whisper, her head shaking from side-to-side as she let out a restless sigh.

    "I know the Locust was coming back with a vengeance, but I had no clue they were capable of something this extreme." Loken, from Wolf Squad, said as he and his entire squad stepped up next to Sierra Squad, "How can we possibly counter this?"

    Many agreed with the Gear, their faces solemn and grim as they registered the complications of the Locusts new weapon. Whatever it was, it didn't bode well with anyone, the Coalition, Gears, and Stranded alike. It happened overnight, two cities taken out with a single proverbial blow – without any even knowing.

    Without so much as a warning, Aasera crouched and braced herself as she skidded down the slight slope to the next level. Feet firmly collided with more dirt as she firmly clutched the gripping just below the Lancer's bayonet.

    "Boss?" Jerome said in a deep, concerned filled voice, his dark eyes peering down into the abyss.

    "What're you all waiting for? We have a mission, let's get on with it." she snapped, her attitude a little more grouchy than usual as of late. Realizing this, she paused and looked over her shoulder then peered up at Jerome and Izzy, "We don't have much time to waste. There may be survivors, Stranded and Gears alike. Keep your guard up...if anyone finds a survivor, you call it in...drag them to the surface, then continue with the search after making sure they are secured."

    This time Izzy noted that the Sarge's tone was a little bit more like it used to be. He wasn't sure what was going on with her lately; but there was a significant difference in her attitude, not to mention her performance, lately. If they thought she was a hardbound warrior before, then she was a master of all warriors now. It was almost as if she were attempting to keep her mind off something; but far be it for him to ask.

    Instantaneously, Jerome and Izzy nodded, sliding down the slope to follow their superior, hollering out a, "Yes, ma'am!" on the way down.

    "When the hell did your sister become such a hard a**?" Loken asked the man that had stepped up to his right side.

    Marcus' lips curved into a frown as he watched his twin sister take charge, causing him to bristle a little as he stood over the sinkhole. Something was obviously bothering Sera lately – but what that something was he didn't know.

    A few moments later Damon Baird stepped up between Marcus and Loken, his facial expression impassive as he spoke, "She's always been a hard a**. Now how about we all shut up and get to doing what we came here to do."

    Nodding to that, one by one Gears started sliding down the slope and into the sinkhole to find remaining survivors...though it all felt very grim. After all, how could anyone manage to survive...this?

    Meanwhile, Sera kept her guard up at full alert as she walked through the ruins. She bristled a little, knowing that people were starting to catch on to her unruly demeanor. She had a lot to think about over the past week, things that made her quite prickly...sore and sensitive subjects.

    "Hey...Sera..." Dom said as he ran over to her, "Sera...I..."

    The female Fenix turned on her thick booted heels, her honey eyes gazing at Santiago's dark brown hues. There was sadness in his eyes, want...heartbreak. Her heart went out to him so much, losing his children and unable to find his wife Maria. Yet here he was, still fighting...never losing hope. Sera took note of that and tucked it away for her to ponder on when they were back at Jacinto.

    "What do you need?" she asked, her head tilting a little to the right.

    Dom gave her a serious, yet genuine, smile as he nodded a little and spoke, "If you find her...will you let me know?"

    It wasn't a question she needed to think about as she nodded, reached out and patted his arm, "You'll be the first, Dom. You'll be the first..."

    "Thank you, Sera." he said before nodding and running off to join Delta Squad.

    In that very moment she peered over to see Baird looking at her, this time his facial expression not impassive as he gave her a genuine look of concern. They always had ways of communicating without actually speaking, and in that moment he was wondering if she was okay. She shrugged, signed that she would be okay...eventually, and walked off to join her own squad members.

    Baird let out a heavy sigh, calloused fingers scratching idly at the top of his head. Something was definitely eating at her; and he had a wild assumption as to what, or rather...who, it was. But now was not the time to think about it, he'd have to approach her about it later.

    "Baird...come on." Marcus growled, his own eyes set on his sister as she and Sierra squad walked off deeper into the sinkhole.

    *****

    "Did you hear? We're supposed to be getting our fourth member next week..." Jerome's deep voice shattered the pregnant silence that had been hanging around Sierra squad.

    Izzy sifted through the rubble, his eyes claiming another dead Stranded that had been crushed by the force of the sinkhole, "It's about time. Have you heard anything about who it is, boss?"

    Sera did a half shrug as she stood still, her eyes scanning the entire area to make sure they were clear of any hostiles until Jerome and Izzy had fully scoured for the dead. "I don't know, to be honest. The file is very hush-hush. I'm not sure I like the idea of not knowing who our fourth squad mate is..."

    "You'd think they wouldn't keep secrets from us after what happened with Jenkins. For all we know we could be getting a head case." the burly, dark-skinned man said as he turned his gaze to Sera and shook his head, "No survivors here, Sarge."

    "Izzy?" she asked in a surprisingly calm voice.

    The shaggy, blonde-headed man shook his head as he bowed it and paid his respects, "None here either."

    "Okay then...let's move on. I've been told another team will be coming in to collect the bodies and give them a proper burial. That's IF...it's safe enough to do so. Let's try over there..." the Gear spoke, her gloved hand outstretching and pointing towards the buildings that still remained...as much as possible, untouched...just sunk into the ground. "There might be Stranded in the buildings. Keep an eye out, though."

    "Yes, ma'am." the two said in unison as they followed their leader towards the buildings.

    The three slowly treaded the unstable soil, sliding and skidding down slopes as the soft dirt gave way beneath their heavy armored feet. Sera suddenly paused, raising her fist into the air...a clear indication to stop. She moved forward, propping herself up against the metal of a half buried car. Shifting, she peered around the corner and allowed her keen hearing to take in the cries of help.

    "A survivor..." Jerome said, itching to move forward.

    Aasera shook her head a little, her gaze shifting throughout the area surrounding the lonely Stranded. "It's a trap..." she said, her teeth gritting together as she moved a hand up to her ear and announced her suspicions. "Marcus..."

    "Yeah...what is it?" he said in his usual gruffness.

    "Watch out for lonesome Stranded. I think the Locust have prepared traps to lure us in and ambush us." she explained quickly, her voice hushed and urgent.

    "Affirmative. Be careful out there, Sera." he said as a final afterthought before going through the processes of telling all the other squads.

    Izzy fidgeted, his green eyes piercing and full of hostile vengeance, "What are we going to do? We can't just leave him there. They'll kill him if we don't act."

    Fenix turned a little, her head bowed causing loose ebony locks to cascade around her pretty features, "We're not. Listen close...we have to be precise, understand? If we want to make it out of here alive, not to mention get the survivors out...we have to do this quick...and stealthily."

    This caught the two by surprise, after all...Gears weren't stealth units, they were the bullet sponges, the aggressive warriors that charged out into the battlefield and massacred whatever Locust they came across. They would trust in their superiors plan, though. After all, she was just as much of a warrior as the rest of them. If this was how it needed to be, then so be it.

    *****

    Aasera craned her neck a little to see the lone figure of a man collapsed on the ground. He was tired, exhausted, probably very injured. The itch to run in there and grab him was niggling at her, but she controlled her urges and kept silently still. "Izzy?" she murmured softly, her eyes cast upward towards the bright, smoky sky.

    "In place, boss." he said, peering through the Longshot's scope as he assessed the situation, "I don't like you being down there by yourself, Sarge. There's no way I can get to you should this not work out."

    "It'll work..." she said, her tone reminiscent of her brother's as she heaved a slow exhale, "how many do you see?"

    He moved with an agile quickness as he counted the Locusts that he could see hiding under rubble, behind the rubble...in various placed emergence holes. "Damn...there's got to be over twenty...and that's just what I can see from here. I count four emergence holes, two at the north and one on either side of the Stranded."

    "Sera! What are you doing?!" Marcus' voice came over the com unit, "Are you crazy! Wait for backup!"

    Aasera grunted and winced to the sharp clip in her brother's tone as she answered, "There isn't time for backup, Marcus. They'll kill him...and many others if we don't do something now."

    There was silence on the other end, a heavy silence that meant he didn't approve...yet also understood the situation, "I'm still contacting Hoffman. Maybe he can send in some units to help...just in case. BE CAREFUL!"

    "Yeah, yeah. Aren't I always?" she mused with a genuine grin, the first cocky smile to appear on her face for quite awhile.

    Marcus chortled a little to that and shook his head, "Never are, you're such a pain in my armored a**. Just watch yourself. Izzy, Jerome...if something happens to her..."

    "We'll be kicking our own asses, sir. Don't you worry about that..." Izzy said, his expression rather grim.

    "Jerome...?" the female whispered, her honey gaze peering around the corner to look at the area again, this time able to see the bobbing head of a Locust drone.

    Jerome's bulky form rested securely halfway up the same building Izzy was on top of, the boomshot securely gripped within his large hands, "I'm ready. I can take out all emergence holes but the one nearest you. I can't risk the shot going stray and hitting near you, Sarge...so that one is up to you."

    She nodded as she felt that spike of adrenaline rise within her short, slim form. This was it, the time was nearing. "Alright...Izzy, take out as many single grubs you can see, ones that won't be seen by any of the others."

    Izzy nodded, glad that he had tinkered with his favorite weapon, adding a silencer into it’s engineering. One by one he picked off the single drones hiding behind various objects. Their brethren didn't even notice as their army got a little slimmer. "That's all I can chance, not without alerting the others."

    Grunting, Aasera braced herself for the next part, because it would be at that moment she'd have to go into action. This was new to her, the stealth situation – and she honestly didn't think she'd be able to do it if it weren't for Seth. Just the name rumbled a groan in her throat, one that she quickly swallowed and silenced. Now's not the time to be thinking about him... she thought to herself sorely, her demeanor once again rising to be prickly.

    "Ready when you are, boss." Jerome spoke, his voice somehow lulling her fiery spirit as she nodded and made her way to the other side, as close to the emergence hole that she could get.

    Prepared with the frag grenade, Aasera started the countdown with Jerome, "On three....one" the anticipation started growing in both Gears, "Two" it was time, this was it, no going back, "Three!"

    Upon the sound of the first boomshot being shot, Sera popped out long enough to swing the chain and throw it into the hole where a few Wretches were starting to emerge. The blast of the frag sent pieces of wretch into the air, and the satisfaction from Izzy as he called out that two holes were now closed.

    The Locust had no clue where the enemy, therefore they started blind firing at the building Izzy and Jerome were placed at...giving just enough time for Sera to roadie-run in, grab the Stranded by the collar of his shirt, and lifting him up off the ground...carrying him to safety, or at least...where it was safer than others.

    "Thank you!" the man cried, trembling in fear, stinking of blood, sweat, and piss.

    Sera cupped a hand over the man's mouth as she leaned in, ignoring the stench as she hissed, "I need you to remain absolutely quiet, you understand? No matter what you hear, you stay right at this spot...one of my men will be down to take you to safety."

    He nodded as he moved his own hands over his mouth to muffle the trembling cries. He was a trooper, there was no doubt about that...and Sera hoped to get him out of here alive...back to Jacinto where he would be safe.

    "All holes are closed, boss! I'm coming down to grab the survivor...Izzy is popping heads left and right. Be careful!" he hollered.

    Now it was time for the female Gear to get her hands dirty, literally. Sera spun on her heels and made her way towards the battle arena where Locusts continued to fire up at Izzy. She heard the man howl in pain, though he confirmed that it was just a shot to the shoulder...nothing that couldn't be fixed up later.

    Aasera bounced from one object to the next as she snuck up on the unsuspecting Locusts. The first one, so busy reloading, that he didn't even see or hear the bayonet rev as the female came up behind him, shoved the spinning serrated blade into it's back and sawed him in half. It was then that the Locusts realized what was going on, that it had been a setup...and that they had been made. A Theron Guard shot at the ground-walker with his torque bow, growling in amusement as it stuck to her leg.

    Pain flared as the explosive arrow shot into her thigh, but ignored it quickly as she gripped it and pulled it out...throwing it toward a nearby group of grubs. Instantly, the arrow blew up...taking them with...and whilst the Theron Guard was watching, Izzy took the time to aim and get two good shots off...the first taking off it's face mask, the other popping his head off like a rip melon.

    "You okay?!" Izzy exclaimed as he continued to take out Locust after Locust.

    She grunted a tiny yes as she slapped on a self-adhering antiseptic battle dressing over the wound. "It wasn't charged up enough to go through the leg. It'll be fine." she answered a second later.

    Jerome came over the com unit after that, his voice filled with concern, "That Stranded told me that there are many more survivors being holed up in those buildings, just like you assumed. He said that he went out to keep the Locust from knowing...and so far, they've taken the bait. If we can take these bastards out, we have a chance of saving a lot more lives. I'm on my way back now, Sarge."

    Exhaling slowly, she continued with her movements, making her way from various debris until reaching another grub that stood there menacingly, firing at her with the hammerburst. Quickly, she rolled and pulled out her Gnasher...didn't even bother to aim as she dodge to the side again, almost circling the disgusting creature, and pulled the trigger – tearing the b*****d into pieces.

    "How many more are there?" she said, huddled behind the barrier as she switched back to her Lancer.

    Izzy peered through the scope, "I see only four more...but that's only what I can see."

    "Jerome...?"

    "I'm here..." he said as he slid up next to her, his boomshot in hands, "One good shot should take down those three. But where is the fourth?" he asked as he prepared to fire.

    "s**t! Watch out, Sarge!!" Izzy cried over the com unit, which caused Sera to spin and rev the Lancer.

    The two dueled, gritting her teeth as she pushed him back, "SHOOT AT THEM! NOW!" she hollered, hearing the boom go off not even a second after her command. Grunting, she moved in and shot her knee upward. The impact of her knee caused the grub to gasp and released the triggering mechanism on the Lancer...allowing her to bare down on the b*****d, slicing him from shoulder to hip.

    A long, silent pause hung overhead Sera and Jerome as the female turned on her heels and peered over to the other side to see nothing but chunks of Locust meat everywhere. Had they done it? Taken out an entire army of Locust? In a situation that no one would have gotten out of alive? The same...sort of situation that had happened to the very first Sierra Squad?

    "Boss? Jerome?" Izzy muttered anxiously as he peered through the longshot's scope, "You two okay?"

    "Yeah. We're okay. Get down here while I check on the Sarge's wound. But be careful, just in case." the burly Gear said as he helped his superior sit down.

    The adrenaline had spiked, but now it was starting to die away as she sat down with Jerome's help, her teeth gritting as he pulled off the patch. "It isn't that bad...it could have been a lot worse."

    "Yeah, well...let's get it taken care of before we go get those survivors, okay?" he said, taking control of the situation for the moment, "I hope the other Squads had the same luck as we did. That was brilliant, boss."

    "Thanks..." she said as she rested her head back and closed her eyes for a second as Jerome did his job of playing medic. All of them had the training, just in case something like this happened. Her thoughts, as they always did, seemed to travel back to Seth. She wasn't sure what was going on between them...after that night, after she told him what had happened to the first Sierra Squad...they sort of left each other at that. He had to go back, not wanting to risk being caught outside of the infirmary, and she...well, she was still hurt by his blatant answer of doing his job.

    They didn't have the time talk, he was still healing – and technically so was she, but she waived the right to stay back at Jacinto and joined her men to find survivors. Needless to say, she was still quite hurt over what Seth had said...even though she fully understood. Hence came the reason for her prickly attitude towards everyone and everything as of late.

    "Thank the gods you two are okay..." Izzy said as he slumped in beside the two as he patched up his shoulder, which ended up being nothing more than a flesh wound. "What now?"

    "We go and get those survivors out of here..." she said simply as Jerome had finished and helped her up off the ground, "Let's go before the reinforcements show up."

    "Yes, ma'am!" they said once again in unison.

    *****

    Marcus waited at the top with all the other squads and survivors, fidgeting as he paced back and forth. Baird sat still, the deadly silence thick as they all waited to hear what happened with Sierra Squad. The blonde shook his head, his hands forming over his face as he let out a desperate sounding moan. As much of a damn hard a** and smart mouth as he was, when it came to Sera...he was genuinely serious. There were no laughing, lighthearted remarks from him...nor from Loken, who sat next to the Delta Squad member. They had all been friends since grade school...and the thought of losing Sera, like they had lost their other comrades, didn't bode well.

    Jerome was the first to pop his head out as he helped the many survivors up the slopes. Quickly, the other Gears made their way to help out. Izzy was the next, carrying a little girl up and out...along with many others. It surprised most of the Gears of how many survivors there turned out to be. Surely they would have met their demise if it hadn't been for Sera's actions.

    Unfortunately that meant one person was missing from the group of people gathered by the APC’s.

    Marcus approached Jerome, a gaunt expression forming upon his hardened features, "Where is she?"

    "Right here." she said as she climbed out.

    Within seconds she had arms wrapped around her so tight she thought her eyes were going to pop out. It was an extreme rarity for Marcus Fenix to show any sort of emotion. But this was his sister, his twin sister...and where he lost many others of his family, he refused to lose her.

    Instead of snapping at him, Sera leaned into the fierce hug and wrapped her own arms around him. He truly did care, yet trusted in her ability to get something done. It was heartwarming; and she knew tears were beginning to form in her honey-brown eyes.

    Once Marcus had pulled away, two others stormed up and snatched her into a group hug. Baird and Loken, quiet as ever, showed how much they cared for her. It was overwhelming...and yet she needed it. She NEEDED this.

    "You scared the hell out of them..." Dom said as he stepped up and gave Sera a smile, "but I knew you'd pull through."

    "I'm sorry I didn't find her, Dom..." she said as the others finally pulled away, beaming at her.

    Santiago shook his head, still smiling as he looked at Marcus' twin, "It's okay. One day...there's still hope left. After all, look what you did..."

    With that, she took the time to actually see what she had done. Not only did she take control of what could have been a dire situation for all, but saved many people in the process – no matter what might happen to her. She knew that telling Seth she couldn't promise not to leave him if he were in a dire situation was the right thing to say. To be honest, she wouldn't leave anyone behind...not as long as she lived and breathed. It was the life of a Gear, to fight...to fight and save the world of Sera. No matter the consequences. THIS was what they had signed up to do, and as long as there was hope...then she would do what she felt was right.

    "All in a day's work..." she murmured with a grin, looking up as many King Raven's came in to extract the survivors, "All in a day's work."

    "If it weren't for your heads up...things could have gotten really hairy. There were ambushes set up everywhere. You did good, baby." Cole said, raising a large hand and placing it on Aasera's small shoulder, "You did reeeeaaaal good."

    The Gears made their ways to the APC's they had come in .. all the Raven's had taken the survivors back to Jacinto. It was time to go back and prepare for whatever the Locust had coming next. To be honest...she hoped to see Seth, sooner rather than later – because who knew what the next day would bring. One thing was for sure...they would all have to keep their guard up now. And fight even dirtier than before.

    "Let's go home..." Baird said as he placed an arm around the dark-haired female's shoulder, "I owe you a beer."

    Smirking, Fenix nodded with a laugh, "Damn right you do..."