Post by The Author on Dec 12, 2006 8:18:34 GMT -5
((To start off the Gears of War RP properly, I present to you this wonderfully epic monstrosity. This is not totally my creation - I only did half. Art and I started this in an AIM conversation, and we felt the need to share it with everyone - and to get everyone in on it. So you know - I play the part of Duo (of course) and Art plays the part of Iolanthe.))
“OH SHIT! Boomer!” was the yell that greeted the womans ears as she woke with a start. Blinking, she turned to see a giant, white skinned behemoth smash through the wall. Wearing red armor and lifting a giant weapon, it advanced towards her and… the strange man standing over her. He was dressed in the battle armor of the COG soldier – a Gear – and glasses adorned his face, which was scarred from battle and unshaved stubble. An instant after yelling in surprise, he grabbed her by the arm, and picked her up as he dove for cover.
Not a moment too soon. The place they had been standing was soon reduced to molten rubble by the resulting explosion from the Boomer’s weapon. The Gear who sat next to her as they hid behind some rubble for cover reloaded his weapon – a rifle with a chainsaw bayonet. She blinked, and casually lifted a toy pistol. The Gear took aim with the rifle and unloaded onto the behemoth. A moment later, the now headless and bullet riddled corpse fell to the ground with a wet thud. Meanwhile, the woman took aim and shot a sticky dart into the pile of rubble as it settled, as if to punctuate the event.
“Sorry about that,” the Gear said to the woman. “I was hoping to get you without incident, but it seems the Locust had other plans.”
The words seemed to make no sense to the woman. “Buggering hell. I should purchase real ammo, then. But thank you for saving me. By the way – who are you?”
“My name is Duo,” the Gear said. “That’s all I’m authorized to say.”
“Nice to meet you, Duo,” the woman said. “My name is Iolanthe. Io for short.”
“I know. Look, we don’t have much time. It’s already dark out, which means there’s Kryll, and since the Locust are here, you’re going to have to put this on in case of gunfire.” He tosses a duffel bag her way. “It’s not Gear armor, but it’ll do for the time being. In there is also a spare Lancer with 7 clips of ammo.”
Io looked inside the bag at all the things. It all looked very complicated. “Why, thank you! This is just what I need!”
“There’s also 8 flares in there, those’ll keep you safe from the Kryll. They wont hurt you if you’re in the light, but if you step into the darkness, they won't find enough of you to identify your remains.”
“Wait, you're not leaving me alone here!!” Io protested.
“That’s just in case we get separated.” Duo added.
“We better not. I couldn't handle these things alone. Where are we going anyway?” she asked.
“Jacinto Plateau. It's a COG. fortress, and so it's the last safe place from both the Locust and the Kryll on Sera. We're gonna need to get an APC, because we don't have enough supplies - or light - to hoof it that far.”
Io seemed bewildered. “APC? COG?”
Duo looked at her questioningly. “How do you not know what the COG is?”
She shrugged. “I'm a hermit. Do forgive my lack of understanding.”
Duo waved a hand in dismissal, as she began to put on the armor. A moment later, there was a loud thud. “Fuck! I think I broke something on it.” She sounded impatient.
Duo looked over. “Nah, it's just unhinged.” With one deft movement and a sharp snap, it locked into place. “There. Try it now.”
She slid a leg on over her arm, rolled her eyes, and tried again. It fit ill, but she seemed impatient to leave. “Good enough. Let’s hoof it.”
Duo shook his head. “Not quite yet. Turn around.” He pressed some buttons on the back of the armor. “The armor is powered up now, and so are the mag clamps.” He tossed her a shotgun. “Just put this on your back and the clamps'll keep it from dropping.”
“All right…” she said doubtfully, placing the gun against her back. She let go and was surprised to feel it hold in place. “Let’s boogie.”
Duo put his sniper rifle on his back, and reloaded the chainsaw gun. “I thought you'd never ask. Let's go kick some ass!” With that, he kicked down the door and immediately took cover behind a nearby burned out car.
The street looked deserted, except for a bunch of rubble and a few concrete blocks and junked cars that have been conveniently left for cover. Ruined buildings flanked either side, but it didn’t look like any Locust were around – the streets were completely empty. A mass of dark, flying things could be seen in the sky, blocking any view of the stars - Kryll.
Io flanked him and crouched behind half of a charred wall left from a burned building. Even though she didn’t have any training for this sort of thing, it seemed to come natural. “See anything?” she called.
“It doesn't look like there's any Locust, but there's barely any light between here and the end of the street.” Duo said, peering over the top of the car. “And the Kryll are everywhere.”
“Should I use a flare, then?”
“Save it.” Duo looked again. “I’ve got an idea.”
Taking careful aim with his rifle at a small white object next to a car, Duo fired. The car exploded, creating a large area of red light.
Io stared. “Jesus fuckchrist. You first.”
Duo smirked. “Propane tanks. The Stranded around here... don't exist anymore, so they won't mind.” He took another look, then ran to the next area of cover.
Io followed at a crouch. “Looks like we've got another.... twenty yards to the streetlights.” She bit her lip. “Any more ideas?”
“Gimmie a minute, gimmie a minute...” Duo mumbled. Suddenly, the ground began to shake. An emergence hole opened up under a streetlight, and locust started to spread out, securing the area. “Oh shit!” yelled Duo. “Grub hole!”
“Motherfucker!” Io pulled out the shotgun and loaded it. “What the fuck am I supposed to shoot at?!”
Duo blindfired at some of the locust. “Anything with white skin that growls!” he yelled back.
“You mean ALL of them?!” Bracing herself, Io shot at a clump, the kick sending her staggering backwards.
In response, the Locust opened fire, and a few of them tried to advance to Duo and Io’s position, but the two that stepped into the darkness were immediately overwhelmed by millions of tiny, bat like monsters and were ripped to bloody shreds before they could take 4 steps.
“We've gotta plug that hole! While there's only a few of them, the darkness is a good defense, but if more of them come out, they'll spread into the buildings and surround us.”
He took out a grenade and primed it.
“Plug with WHAT?! Debris?” Snapped Io, firing a few rounds at a clump of locusts.
Peeking over the side to judge distance, Duo replied, “With this!” and tossed the grenade into the hole. It exploded, collapsing the tunnel entrance.
As this transgressed, he put away the chainsaw gun in favor of the sniper.
Not used to the weight and bulk of the armor, nor the force of an explosion, Io toppled over while firing. “Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck!! As she fired randomly between her knees, Duo finished off the remaining locust.
“Get me the fuck up!” cried Io, waving her arms like an upended beetle.
Duo helped her up, smirking. “First time in a uniform, eh? Don't worry, you'll get used to it. “After scanning the area, Duo approached a building and kicked in the door. “Here, we'll cut through this building to get to the side lit with streetlights.”
“Good idea,” Io replied. They advanced into the building, Duo taking point, until a shuffling sound was heard in a nearby room. Duo flattened himself (as much as he could) against the wall, and crept forward to the door into the room, Io following with her reloaded gun.
Just as he peeked around the corner, a giant screech came from the room. “WRETCHES!” Duo cried, running the opposite direction. He grabbed Io’s arm and dragged her away from a multitude of small little creatures coming out of the room, running along the floor and climbing along the walls and ceiling.
“SHOULD I SHOOT?” she yelped. Duo didn’t reply until there was enough distance between them and the wretches.
“YES! SHOOT NOW!” he yelled, revving up the chainsaw bayonet.
“EAT THIS!” Io cocked her gun and fired, staggering back slightly, as she was not used to its power even now.
The wretch she shot at exploded into gory pieces. A second wretch going for Duo was promptly sawed into two gory halves.
“Ugggh!” Io looked green, but reloaded and fired. “How much ammo do you have for this?!”
“14 shots!” Duo called back.
She shot again, finally able to stay stable against the force of the shotgun. “I don’t think this is gonna last that long!”
Duo ran headfirst into the Wretch mob, chainsawing everything. “Then just smack ‘em in the face! It’ll save ammo!”
She winces, and pulls out the Lancer, starting the chainsaw. “I have to get… closer?”
The mob was thinned out considerably by the time she said this. “I would think so, yes.”
Her eye twitches, and she runs headlong, screaming into… nothing. By this point, all the wretches had been killed. Duo smirked. “Don’t worry, you’ll get another chance.”
She shudders. “I’m gonna puke if this keeps up. All this blood is disgusting.”
“Heh. This is nothing. We’re barely ankle-deep in The Shit.” Duo said as he bashed open a nearby door. They emerged onto the other end of the street near the now-plugged up Emergence Hole. The remains of the dead Locust they fought before lie still in pools of their own blood, or in scorched pieces on the ground. He searches the crowd for dropped ammo, picking up a few stray clips and grenades on the ground, when he comes up to another Locust. It's not quite dead, wheezing and sputtering blood out its mouth.
Io puts her hand to her mouth, and simply says “Gah… that’s horrid,” as Duo leans in closer to the dying drone. In a barely comprehensible reptilian snarl, the Drone looks up at Duo, and says “D-die, la-and walk-ker...”
Duo proceeded to crush the skull of the drone beneath his boot. Blood splashed everywhere.
“Not today, Grub. C’mon, we have to keep moving.”
Io nodded, and replied “J-just one momen—“ right before she started retching.
He walks past her to the corner, and as he steps out, machinegun fire is heard from the cross street, and he immediately dives for cover. “Shit! Troika!”
Io jumps behind a charred SUV, trailing puke. “Uggghh... jesus CHRIST... what NOW?!” she nearly screamed. Bullets streaked through the sky above their heads.
“It’s a Troika – a Locust machinegun! Probably more Locust below it. I didn’t get a good look before they started shooting at me!” Duo yelled back.
“God...fucking... damn it,” she says as she pulls out the shotgun again. “I'mma kill me some bugs.”
Duo looked half shocked at the idiocy of anyone with just a shotgun going up against a Troika and half in awe of the complete lack of fear she displayed. Before she could leave though, he held her down. “You can't deal with one of those guns with a shotgun! You'll be ripped to shreds before you can get close! Not to mention the other Drones below it!”
“So what do you suppose we do then?”
Duo thought for half a second, peeked his head over the cover, and then quickly came back down when the machinegun fired on their position again. “How good are you with a sniper rifle?”
“When I'm not being strafed, I'm pretty good. Why?” she had no idea how she knew this, she just did.
“There’s a streetlight over the gunner. If I provide some cover fire, do you think you can hit it?” Duo asked, as he handed her the sniper rifle.
She grinned. “Absolutely.” She took the sniper rifle and scooted to the front of the vehicle, taking aim. “I'm going to need to get on top of the hood. Cover me.”
“Got it,” he said. And with that, he primed a grenade and threw it into the Locust, following it up with a hail of gunfire. Io leaned over the top of the hood and with an expert shot, shattered the glass lamp. Suddenly, the area around the Troika was flooded with darkness. Screaming was heard as the Kryll descended upon the Locust without mercy and ripped them all to shreds.
Io grimaced and slid off the hood. “Can we get going now?” she whined.
“In a minute,” he said, and fired a shot near the troika. A propane tank exploded. “We should have a straight shot to the APC now.”
They make their way to the APC, a giant, 6 wheeled tank like vehicle with a few machineguns and a UV light mounted on top.
“If we can make it to the Plateau,” Duo said, “we should be safe. The place is a fortress, and not even the Locust can dig under that massive stone plate it sits on.”
“Damn,” Io said, staring at the APC. “Why’s it just sitting here?”
“What do you think? This is my ride. I would’ve gotten you out in a helicopter, but there’s no way to get past the Kryll and Nemacyst in anything but an APC. That, and this is all command would let me use for this mission.”
Io looked confused. “Wait, you’re with the COG?” she asked, seemingly perplexed.
Duo cocked an eyebrow. “Of course I’m with the COG. Can’t you tell by the armor?”
Io blinked. Of course she knew what COG soldiers looked like… but then again, hadn’t she not even known about the COG merely moments ago?
He thoughts were cut short by the ground shaking with such force that even the APC moved slightly.
“Ohhh shit!” Duo said, opening up the front hatch of the APC. “That can mean only one thing.”
Io snapped out of it and drew her rifle. “What? Is it another hole?”
“No – something much worse.”
Almost as if on cue, a nearby building collapsed in on itself, and 8 giant, armored spider legs emerged.
Duo shouted. “CORPSER! GET IN! NOW!”
Io looked on in shock and horror. Duo grabbed her arm, and forced her inside the APC as the Corpser started to bring itself out of the ground. Duo got in and shut the door just in time, and started driving off, away from the behemoth.
Once inside, Io seemed to find her voice once again. “…the fuck? WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!?”
“That was a Corpser. They live up to their name, so I’m driving us out of here like a bat out of hell!” he said, driving the APC. He checked in the rear display, and saw that it was still following. “Quick! Man one of the turrets in back! We may be able to slow it down long enough to lose it!”
She slid across the floor to reach it. “Got it!” she said, turning on the gun. Yet another thing that she knew how to do that she shouldn’t have known how to do.
The corpser rushed forward, gnashing its many teeth, its multiple eyes glowing in the dark. Kryll occasionally get in its path and are crushed, but stay away for the most part. Io fires maniacally at it. “I don’t think its working! Can’t we go any faster?”
“I’m redlining the damn thing!” Duo shouted back. “Aim for the gut!”
“It has a gut?!?”
“Beneath the head!”
“Fine, fine, whatever, just keep driving!” she said as she kept firing, and the APC kept moving, trying to lose the corpser. Soon, Duo shouted “Hang on, this is gonna be close!”
The APC hurled itself forward beneath a giant arch, and the sides of the APC scraped against the walls, but they made it through. The corpser, on the other hand, was too wide to fit through the hole, and couldn’t bash through the thick stone.
“That should slow it down long enough for us to lose it” Duo said, relaxing the driving a bit.
Io collapses in a heap in one of the chairs on the side. “Thank goodness. ... You think I can take all this armor off, now?”
“Yeah, of course. So what’s your story, anyway?”
She starts pulling off her armor. “I… dunno. I just... survived, I suppose.”
“Yeah? Hell of a place to survive for so long without meeting any Locust. Too bad the Locust found that little outpost of yours.” Duo said.
She shuddered. “I never really payed attention to anything. Thought I was safe, yanno? Ignored any politics, anything but my own survival. I was lucky not to run into all those beasties.”
“Yeah? Well, you're gonna have to stop ignoring, because you're coming to Jacinto like it or not. At least you'll be safe”.
She cocked an eyebrow. “Why the hell should I pay any attention to it while I'm in Jacinto? I'll just be another boring refugee.”
“Because, toots,” he began, “nobody on Jacinto is a 'refugee.' If you want to live under the protection of COG, you gotta’ follow their rules. It sucks, but it beats getting slaughtered by Locust, if you know what I mean.”
“Rules? Isn't the only rule "Don't kill each other, just try to save yourselves"? Martial law and all that?” she said.
“That's one way to look at it,” he said with a smirk.
“Well, what’s another way?”
“The way most Stranded look at the COG soldiers - as facist pigs. But hey, it's a living, and I love my job.”
She grimaced. “Maybe you should let me off at the next refugee campsite, then.”
Duo smirked. He couldn’t tell if this girl was joking or being serious. Nobody – not even after 14 years – could still be this innocent. “Can't do that, sorry. If I do, it's dereliction of duty, and I'll get executed. Besides, would you rather go back to that?” He asked, opening one of the side windows that looked onto the ruined city they just left, fading off into the distance.
She paused. “I don't know. But... dereliction of duty?! That's crazy. I ASK you to leave me, and you can't? Other people must deem what's right for me?” she shut herself up, then started talking again. “I shouldn't start arguing this. I'll... see what it's like there. But if I don't like it, poof - I'm gone.”
Duo chuckled. “Ok, whatever. It's not my job to think, I just follow orders anyways. I don't know what they want with you, they just told me to retrieve the survivor at your coordinates.”
“Wait, WHAT? They knew about me?” she asked in disbelief.
“Like I said, it's not my job to think, and that means I'm not supposed to question orders.”
“Not think... that's stupid.” She huffs and curls up. “How long until we get to Jacinto?”
“'least another two hours or so. Thankfully there's no Kryll in the desert. No meat.” He smiled darkly.
She yawned. “Well… wake me when we get there…” she said. And with that, an exhausted Iolanthe closed her eyes and fell asleep.
“OH SHIT! Boomer!” was the yell that greeted the womans ears as she woke with a start. Blinking, she turned to see a giant, white skinned behemoth smash through the wall. Wearing red armor and lifting a giant weapon, it advanced towards her and… the strange man standing over her. He was dressed in the battle armor of the COG soldier – a Gear – and glasses adorned his face, which was scarred from battle and unshaved stubble. An instant after yelling in surprise, he grabbed her by the arm, and picked her up as he dove for cover.
Not a moment too soon. The place they had been standing was soon reduced to molten rubble by the resulting explosion from the Boomer’s weapon. The Gear who sat next to her as they hid behind some rubble for cover reloaded his weapon – a rifle with a chainsaw bayonet. She blinked, and casually lifted a toy pistol. The Gear took aim with the rifle and unloaded onto the behemoth. A moment later, the now headless and bullet riddled corpse fell to the ground with a wet thud. Meanwhile, the woman took aim and shot a sticky dart into the pile of rubble as it settled, as if to punctuate the event.
“Sorry about that,” the Gear said to the woman. “I was hoping to get you without incident, but it seems the Locust had other plans.”
The words seemed to make no sense to the woman. “Buggering hell. I should purchase real ammo, then. But thank you for saving me. By the way – who are you?”
“My name is Duo,” the Gear said. “That’s all I’m authorized to say.”
“Nice to meet you, Duo,” the woman said. “My name is Iolanthe. Io for short.”
“I know. Look, we don’t have much time. It’s already dark out, which means there’s Kryll, and since the Locust are here, you’re going to have to put this on in case of gunfire.” He tosses a duffel bag her way. “It’s not Gear armor, but it’ll do for the time being. In there is also a spare Lancer with 7 clips of ammo.”
Io looked inside the bag at all the things. It all looked very complicated. “Why, thank you! This is just what I need!”
“There’s also 8 flares in there, those’ll keep you safe from the Kryll. They wont hurt you if you’re in the light, but if you step into the darkness, they won't find enough of you to identify your remains.”
“Wait, you're not leaving me alone here!!” Io protested.
“That’s just in case we get separated.” Duo added.
“We better not. I couldn't handle these things alone. Where are we going anyway?” she asked.
“Jacinto Plateau. It's a COG. fortress, and so it's the last safe place from both the Locust and the Kryll on Sera. We're gonna need to get an APC, because we don't have enough supplies - or light - to hoof it that far.”
Io seemed bewildered. “APC? COG?”
Duo looked at her questioningly. “How do you not know what the COG is?”
She shrugged. “I'm a hermit. Do forgive my lack of understanding.”
Duo waved a hand in dismissal, as she began to put on the armor. A moment later, there was a loud thud. “Fuck! I think I broke something on it.” She sounded impatient.
Duo looked over. “Nah, it's just unhinged.” With one deft movement and a sharp snap, it locked into place. “There. Try it now.”
She slid a leg on over her arm, rolled her eyes, and tried again. It fit ill, but she seemed impatient to leave. “Good enough. Let’s hoof it.”
Duo shook his head. “Not quite yet. Turn around.” He pressed some buttons on the back of the armor. “The armor is powered up now, and so are the mag clamps.” He tossed her a shotgun. “Just put this on your back and the clamps'll keep it from dropping.”
“All right…” she said doubtfully, placing the gun against her back. She let go and was surprised to feel it hold in place. “Let’s boogie.”
Duo put his sniper rifle on his back, and reloaded the chainsaw gun. “I thought you'd never ask. Let's go kick some ass!” With that, he kicked down the door and immediately took cover behind a nearby burned out car.
The street looked deserted, except for a bunch of rubble and a few concrete blocks and junked cars that have been conveniently left for cover. Ruined buildings flanked either side, but it didn’t look like any Locust were around – the streets were completely empty. A mass of dark, flying things could be seen in the sky, blocking any view of the stars - Kryll.
Io flanked him and crouched behind half of a charred wall left from a burned building. Even though she didn’t have any training for this sort of thing, it seemed to come natural. “See anything?” she called.
“It doesn't look like there's any Locust, but there's barely any light between here and the end of the street.” Duo said, peering over the top of the car. “And the Kryll are everywhere.”
“Should I use a flare, then?”
“Save it.” Duo looked again. “I’ve got an idea.”
Taking careful aim with his rifle at a small white object next to a car, Duo fired. The car exploded, creating a large area of red light.
Io stared. “Jesus fuckchrist. You first.”
Duo smirked. “Propane tanks. The Stranded around here... don't exist anymore, so they won't mind.” He took another look, then ran to the next area of cover.
Io followed at a crouch. “Looks like we've got another.... twenty yards to the streetlights.” She bit her lip. “Any more ideas?”
“Gimmie a minute, gimmie a minute...” Duo mumbled. Suddenly, the ground began to shake. An emergence hole opened up under a streetlight, and locust started to spread out, securing the area. “Oh shit!” yelled Duo. “Grub hole!”
“Motherfucker!” Io pulled out the shotgun and loaded it. “What the fuck am I supposed to shoot at?!”
Duo blindfired at some of the locust. “Anything with white skin that growls!” he yelled back.
“You mean ALL of them?!” Bracing herself, Io shot at a clump, the kick sending her staggering backwards.
In response, the Locust opened fire, and a few of them tried to advance to Duo and Io’s position, but the two that stepped into the darkness were immediately overwhelmed by millions of tiny, bat like monsters and were ripped to bloody shreds before they could take 4 steps.
“We've gotta plug that hole! While there's only a few of them, the darkness is a good defense, but if more of them come out, they'll spread into the buildings and surround us.”
He took out a grenade and primed it.
“Plug with WHAT?! Debris?” Snapped Io, firing a few rounds at a clump of locusts.
Peeking over the side to judge distance, Duo replied, “With this!” and tossed the grenade into the hole. It exploded, collapsing the tunnel entrance.
As this transgressed, he put away the chainsaw gun in favor of the sniper.
Not used to the weight and bulk of the armor, nor the force of an explosion, Io toppled over while firing. “Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck!! As she fired randomly between her knees, Duo finished off the remaining locust.
“Get me the fuck up!” cried Io, waving her arms like an upended beetle.
Duo helped her up, smirking. “First time in a uniform, eh? Don't worry, you'll get used to it. “After scanning the area, Duo approached a building and kicked in the door. “Here, we'll cut through this building to get to the side lit with streetlights.”
“Good idea,” Io replied. They advanced into the building, Duo taking point, until a shuffling sound was heard in a nearby room. Duo flattened himself (as much as he could) against the wall, and crept forward to the door into the room, Io following with her reloaded gun.
Just as he peeked around the corner, a giant screech came from the room. “WRETCHES!” Duo cried, running the opposite direction. He grabbed Io’s arm and dragged her away from a multitude of small little creatures coming out of the room, running along the floor and climbing along the walls and ceiling.
“SHOULD I SHOOT?” she yelped. Duo didn’t reply until there was enough distance between them and the wretches.
“YES! SHOOT NOW!” he yelled, revving up the chainsaw bayonet.
“EAT THIS!” Io cocked her gun and fired, staggering back slightly, as she was not used to its power even now.
The wretch she shot at exploded into gory pieces. A second wretch going for Duo was promptly sawed into two gory halves.
“Ugggh!” Io looked green, but reloaded and fired. “How much ammo do you have for this?!”
“14 shots!” Duo called back.
She shot again, finally able to stay stable against the force of the shotgun. “I don’t think this is gonna last that long!”
Duo ran headfirst into the Wretch mob, chainsawing everything. “Then just smack ‘em in the face! It’ll save ammo!”
She winces, and pulls out the Lancer, starting the chainsaw. “I have to get… closer?”
The mob was thinned out considerably by the time she said this. “I would think so, yes.”
Her eye twitches, and she runs headlong, screaming into… nothing. By this point, all the wretches had been killed. Duo smirked. “Don’t worry, you’ll get another chance.”
She shudders. “I’m gonna puke if this keeps up. All this blood is disgusting.”
“Heh. This is nothing. We’re barely ankle-deep in The Shit.” Duo said as he bashed open a nearby door. They emerged onto the other end of the street near the now-plugged up Emergence Hole. The remains of the dead Locust they fought before lie still in pools of their own blood, or in scorched pieces on the ground. He searches the crowd for dropped ammo, picking up a few stray clips and grenades on the ground, when he comes up to another Locust. It's not quite dead, wheezing and sputtering blood out its mouth.
Io puts her hand to her mouth, and simply says “Gah… that’s horrid,” as Duo leans in closer to the dying drone. In a barely comprehensible reptilian snarl, the Drone looks up at Duo, and says “D-die, la-and walk-ker...”
Duo proceeded to crush the skull of the drone beneath his boot. Blood splashed everywhere.
“Not today, Grub. C’mon, we have to keep moving.”
Io nodded, and replied “J-just one momen—“ right before she started retching.
He walks past her to the corner, and as he steps out, machinegun fire is heard from the cross street, and he immediately dives for cover. “Shit! Troika!”
Io jumps behind a charred SUV, trailing puke. “Uggghh... jesus CHRIST... what NOW?!” she nearly screamed. Bullets streaked through the sky above their heads.
“It’s a Troika – a Locust machinegun! Probably more Locust below it. I didn’t get a good look before they started shooting at me!” Duo yelled back.
“God...fucking... damn it,” she says as she pulls out the shotgun again. “I'mma kill me some bugs.”
Duo looked half shocked at the idiocy of anyone with just a shotgun going up against a Troika and half in awe of the complete lack of fear she displayed. Before she could leave though, he held her down. “You can't deal with one of those guns with a shotgun! You'll be ripped to shreds before you can get close! Not to mention the other Drones below it!”
“So what do you suppose we do then?”
Duo thought for half a second, peeked his head over the cover, and then quickly came back down when the machinegun fired on their position again. “How good are you with a sniper rifle?”
“When I'm not being strafed, I'm pretty good. Why?” she had no idea how she knew this, she just did.
“There’s a streetlight over the gunner. If I provide some cover fire, do you think you can hit it?” Duo asked, as he handed her the sniper rifle.
She grinned. “Absolutely.” She took the sniper rifle and scooted to the front of the vehicle, taking aim. “I'm going to need to get on top of the hood. Cover me.”
“Got it,” he said. And with that, he primed a grenade and threw it into the Locust, following it up with a hail of gunfire. Io leaned over the top of the hood and with an expert shot, shattered the glass lamp. Suddenly, the area around the Troika was flooded with darkness. Screaming was heard as the Kryll descended upon the Locust without mercy and ripped them all to shreds.
Io grimaced and slid off the hood. “Can we get going now?” she whined.
“In a minute,” he said, and fired a shot near the troika. A propane tank exploded. “We should have a straight shot to the APC now.”
They make their way to the APC, a giant, 6 wheeled tank like vehicle with a few machineguns and a UV light mounted on top.
“If we can make it to the Plateau,” Duo said, “we should be safe. The place is a fortress, and not even the Locust can dig under that massive stone plate it sits on.”
“Damn,” Io said, staring at the APC. “Why’s it just sitting here?”
“What do you think? This is my ride. I would’ve gotten you out in a helicopter, but there’s no way to get past the Kryll and Nemacyst in anything but an APC. That, and this is all command would let me use for this mission.”
Io looked confused. “Wait, you’re with the COG?” she asked, seemingly perplexed.
Duo cocked an eyebrow. “Of course I’m with the COG. Can’t you tell by the armor?”
Io blinked. Of course she knew what COG soldiers looked like… but then again, hadn’t she not even known about the COG merely moments ago?
He thoughts were cut short by the ground shaking with such force that even the APC moved slightly.
“Ohhh shit!” Duo said, opening up the front hatch of the APC. “That can mean only one thing.”
Io snapped out of it and drew her rifle. “What? Is it another hole?”
“No – something much worse.”
Almost as if on cue, a nearby building collapsed in on itself, and 8 giant, armored spider legs emerged.
Duo shouted. “CORPSER! GET IN! NOW!”
Io looked on in shock and horror. Duo grabbed her arm, and forced her inside the APC as the Corpser started to bring itself out of the ground. Duo got in and shut the door just in time, and started driving off, away from the behemoth.
Once inside, Io seemed to find her voice once again. “…the fuck? WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!?”
“That was a Corpser. They live up to their name, so I’m driving us out of here like a bat out of hell!” he said, driving the APC. He checked in the rear display, and saw that it was still following. “Quick! Man one of the turrets in back! We may be able to slow it down long enough to lose it!”
She slid across the floor to reach it. “Got it!” she said, turning on the gun. Yet another thing that she knew how to do that she shouldn’t have known how to do.
The corpser rushed forward, gnashing its many teeth, its multiple eyes glowing in the dark. Kryll occasionally get in its path and are crushed, but stay away for the most part. Io fires maniacally at it. “I don’t think its working! Can’t we go any faster?”
“I’m redlining the damn thing!” Duo shouted back. “Aim for the gut!”
“It has a gut?!?”
“Beneath the head!”
“Fine, fine, whatever, just keep driving!” she said as she kept firing, and the APC kept moving, trying to lose the corpser. Soon, Duo shouted “Hang on, this is gonna be close!”
The APC hurled itself forward beneath a giant arch, and the sides of the APC scraped against the walls, but they made it through. The corpser, on the other hand, was too wide to fit through the hole, and couldn’t bash through the thick stone.
“That should slow it down long enough for us to lose it” Duo said, relaxing the driving a bit.
Io collapses in a heap in one of the chairs on the side. “Thank goodness. ... You think I can take all this armor off, now?”
“Yeah, of course. So what’s your story, anyway?”
She starts pulling off her armor. “I… dunno. I just... survived, I suppose.”
“Yeah? Hell of a place to survive for so long without meeting any Locust. Too bad the Locust found that little outpost of yours.” Duo said.
She shuddered. “I never really payed attention to anything. Thought I was safe, yanno? Ignored any politics, anything but my own survival. I was lucky not to run into all those beasties.”
“Yeah? Well, you're gonna have to stop ignoring, because you're coming to Jacinto like it or not. At least you'll be safe”.
She cocked an eyebrow. “Why the hell should I pay any attention to it while I'm in Jacinto? I'll just be another boring refugee.”
“Because, toots,” he began, “nobody on Jacinto is a 'refugee.' If you want to live under the protection of COG, you gotta’ follow their rules. It sucks, but it beats getting slaughtered by Locust, if you know what I mean.”
“Rules? Isn't the only rule "Don't kill each other, just try to save yourselves"? Martial law and all that?” she said.
“That's one way to look at it,” he said with a smirk.
“Well, what’s another way?”
“The way most Stranded look at the COG soldiers - as facist pigs. But hey, it's a living, and I love my job.”
She grimaced. “Maybe you should let me off at the next refugee campsite, then.”
Duo smirked. He couldn’t tell if this girl was joking or being serious. Nobody – not even after 14 years – could still be this innocent. “Can't do that, sorry. If I do, it's dereliction of duty, and I'll get executed. Besides, would you rather go back to that?” He asked, opening one of the side windows that looked onto the ruined city they just left, fading off into the distance.
She paused. “I don't know. But... dereliction of duty?! That's crazy. I ASK you to leave me, and you can't? Other people must deem what's right for me?” she shut herself up, then started talking again. “I shouldn't start arguing this. I'll... see what it's like there. But if I don't like it, poof - I'm gone.”
Duo chuckled. “Ok, whatever. It's not my job to think, I just follow orders anyways. I don't know what they want with you, they just told me to retrieve the survivor at your coordinates.”
“Wait, WHAT? They knew about me?” she asked in disbelief.
“Like I said, it's not my job to think, and that means I'm not supposed to question orders.”
“Not think... that's stupid.” She huffs and curls up. “How long until we get to Jacinto?”
“'least another two hours or so. Thankfully there's no Kryll in the desert. No meat.” He smiled darkly.
She yawned. “Well… wake me when we get there…” she said. And with that, an exhausted Iolanthe closed her eyes and fell asleep.