Operation: Hollow Storm

"Humans are no strangers to war. After all, we've been fighting for as long as we can remember. War is all we know. In the past, we fought for Imulsion. We fought for country. We fought for freedom. But all that changed after E-Day.


"For 15 years, we've been fighting for our very survival against inhuman, genocidal monsters. But it is a fight we cannot continue. Humanity faces extinction, unless we end this war now. We had hoped the Lightmass bombing would decimate the Locust Horde, but they survived… and have returned stronger than ever. They've brought with them a force that can sink entire cities. Even Jacinto, our last beacon of hope through all these dark days, is now at risk. Soon we'll have nothing left to defend, and that means we have only one option... attack. 


"Gears, what I ask of you now is not an easy thing, but it is necessary. If we are to survive... if we are to live long enough to see the seasons pass, our children grow, and experience a time of peace that we have never known... we must now take this fight to the Locust. We will go to where they live and where they breed… and we will destroy them! This is the day we take the battle to the heart of the enemy! This is the day that we correct the course of human history! This is the day we ensure our survival as a species! 


"Soldiers of the COG, my fellow Gears, go forth and bring back the hope of humanity!"


— Richard Prescott before commencing the Assault on Landown.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Lt. Waylan Rhodes
Jacinto City: Wrightman Base

As Omega-Two, a twelve-man squad consisting of seasoned vets and fresh-faced recruits, geared up for what could be the most important operation in Coalition history, the commanding officer, Lt. Waylan Rhodes, sat next to the radio listening to every single word of Chairman Prescott's speech. Waylan nodded his head in approval as he slipped on his combat boots, believing it to be the best damn speech he has ever heard in his entire life. The lieutenant wished he could have witnessed it in person, but he had been under strict orders to help train the new recruits.

From the distance between the radio and a Centaur Tank, Waylan spied two of his fellow Gears, Pvt. Malvo and Cpl. Phillips, as they conversed over Locust weaponry and tactics.

"I'm tellin' ya, Seph, there's something goin' on underground. The grubs gotta be using some sort of WMD or maybe just a big ass fuckin' drill. How else could they have sunken Tollen and Montevado so easily?" Pvt. Malvo, the less experienced but nonetheless gung-ho soldier, asked.

"Dude, it could have just been some freak earthquake caused by the Locust digging where they shouldn't have," Cpl. Seph, a brave and somewhat irritable Gear, responded.

"Nah, man. The Locust aren't as stupid as you think they are. Remember that General RAAM guy? That damn bastard tried to blacken the skies over Ilima just so the kryll would eat everyone living there. The fuckin' grubs know what there doing, Seph," Malvo stated, sliding on his helmet and holstering his Snub Pistol, before handing a couple of Bolo grenades over to Seph.

"I'm not saying the grubs are stupid, I'm saying their capable of making mistakes just like us humans," Seph retorted.

"Yeah, well, I'd highly doubt the grubs would make the same stupid mistake twice," Malvo replied before noticing Lt. Rhodes approaching from the corner of his eye. "Hey, LT, we're just about done over here. How'd it go with that Ben kid?"

"I gave him my helmet. Figured he'd need it more than I would. Plus, I hate those damn things. That rook's gotta knack for the Longshot rifle, I'll give him that but he really needs to work on the reloading. Anyways, he got reassigned to Delta-One. Damn shame, too. I was really starting to like the kid," Lt. Rhodes answered as he reached into his right pocket and pulled out a solid black bandanna before wrapping it around his head.

Lt. Rhodes proceeded to grab his own personal Longshot sniper rifle, a Mk. II Lancer, an MX8 Snub Pistol, two Bolo grenades, and as much ammo as he could carry. As Lt. Rhodes began pocketing his ammo, he turned to Malvo and Seph and ordered them to gather up the rest of Omega-Two and meet him back at the Centaur Tank.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Cpl. Jaden MacNamara

Jaden tightened the clasps on his armguard, grinning to himself in afterglow of the Chairman's speech, the radio was loud enough that he could hear it from some distance away. Politics aside, Prescott knew how to rile up the men. And riled up they were. Even Jaden couldn't keep his spirits down at the talk of destroying some grubs.

He shook his head clear but the grin on his face didn't go away as he fit his ammo away in pouches and slid shotgun shells into his bandolier. This was big. A mobilization of Gears on this scale? It was gonna be fun. He gave his Lancer a quick one over before deciding he didn't have the time to strip and clean it and stowed it on his back.

"Hey Mac," Jaden sighed when Seph addressed him. Mac. Mac. It would figure that once the LT gave him a nickname everyone would start throwing it around. At least it was catchy.

"Yeah?" The ex-Stranded turned, checking over his MX8 Snub, cocking it, and stowing it in its holster.

"LT wants everybody down by Centaur. You seen Sarge anywhere?" Seph seemed visibly annoyed "Its damn near time to head out and no one's seen him."

Jaden sheathed his bayonet and grabbed his Gnasher and mask "You mean Rikter? You must not be looking very hard, I'd just follow the sound of explosions. But tell you what, I'll take a look-see real quick and see if he turns up. Maybe you shit for brains are just blind."

Seph raised an eyebrow before his fellow corporal playfully punched him in the chestplate. "It's a joke Seph. Don't get so worked up." Jaden shouldered his shotgun and wandered off to see if he couldn't find Rikter.

Sgt. Michael Rikter

"Sir, please, you can't carry this many grenades," Pvt. York tried for the third time to explain to Sgt. Rikter. Rikter continued to ignore the poor rookie, who was only trying to do his job as munitions officer, and went on grabbing as many Bolo grenades as he could.

"Sergeant, please," the private insisted.

Finally, Rikter had managed to become pissed off at the recruit. He whipped around and faced the recruit, standing a good half foot above him. The grenades - seven of them currently - attached to Rikter's back clanked loudly as he turned.

"Am I up your ass?!" Rikter shouted down at the smaller man.

"I-I-I'm s-sorry?" the recruit stammered and backed up slightly.

Rikter suddenly looked down at the grenade he had in his hand. He brought it up to his face for a closer look and gave it an experimental shake. When he was satisfied with whatever he was doing, Rikter looked back to Pvt. York.

"I asked if I was up your ass or not, Private," Rikter said again in an only-slightly lower tone.

"I-I... no..?" the private choked out.

"Right, I'm not. So, why don't you get the fuck out of mine?" Rikter menacingly said before slamming the Bolo grenade on to the poor Gear.

"AAAAHHH! WHATTHEFUCK?! WHATTHEFUCK?!" the soldier began to freak out whilst Rikter stood there and began laughing.

As the grenade began to beep sharply, the recruit took off screaming and shouting for help. Rikter actually bent forward suddenly and placed his hands on his knees as he continued to laugh.

"Sergeant! What the hell did you do?!" another Gear shouted at him as he ran up to Rikter.

"Hahahaha! Oh, God! Oh, God! It's a dud! Hahaha! God, that's good!" Rikter managed to get out between laughs.

PFC Raymond Evans

Sitting there polishing his pistol, Evans couldn't help but smiling after hearing Prescott's speech. Even though he was fresh out of the academy he was eager to prove himself. He knew the rest of his squad had years more experience over him.

He was just starting to wonder what it would be like to fight along side these veterans when a Gear ran by him screaming with a Bolo Grenade stuck on his back.

Evans quickly holstered his prized gun and ran to the location he saw the Gear running from. The entire way there his mind was racing, trying to figured out what could have possibly happened.

By time he got to the tent, there was already a small group assembling that was also trying to figure out what the commotion was. He pushed past the crowd to see a hulking figure doubled over and laughing hysterically while another Gear was giving him a face of terror.

Evans immediately recognized the man as Sgt. Rikter and knew what had happened almost instantly. He had heard stories of Rikter's behavior and was less than enthused to be on Omega-Two with him.

Cpl. Jaden MacNamara

The Corporal was nearly knocked off his feet from the force of the young Private slamming into him, running full force. York didn't miss a beat "H-help me...! For the love of...!"

Jaden shook his head "If you like your torso not blown across the camp, you don't want me to touch that. Run along to the LT, try not to blow up in the mean time."

Taking a moment to watch the scared-pissless Gear scramble away, Mac put his breathing apparatus on and took a few moments to make sure it was operating correctly. Assured his equipment functioned, he set off in the opposite direction of the fleeing Private. Only one person would needlessly tag a fellow Gear.

It wasn't long until Jaden saw the small crowd around the Sergeant, who apparantly thought this was funny as hell, including a miffed looking Gear, and the squad's rookie medic. Jaden didn't feel like shoving through the crowd. He cocked his Gnasher loudly, the shell hitting the ground with a tang. He got their attention. He'd probably get in trouble for making a scene this way, but the Sarge wasn't exactly setting a good precedent.

"The hell's this shit? Last I checked we blow up grubs not scrubs." his voice distorted through his less than quality air filter.

Sgt. Michael Rikter

"Ho-lee shit, Corporal," Rikter said, standing up straight and walking a ways over to Jaden. He had a seemingly more-serious air about him. "Why the hell are you going off to fight, Mac?"

Rikter turned around and looked at everyone as if they would agree with whatever point he was about to make. "Are my ears fucked or did I just hear you right? Grubs no scr- You shouldn't be here! You should be in the Office of Propaganda!"

Rikter immediately began laughing again like before, and surprisingly, many of the other Gears thought it was a pretty funny joke as well. Almost everyone in the group started to laugh along with Rikter.

Cpl. Jaden MacNamara

Jaden was near to the point of visibly twitching in frustration "You're seriously going to fucking joke? After the fucking stunt you just pulled?! Fuck you! And the rest of you think this shit is fuckin' funny?" Jaden dropped his Gnasher and grabbed Rikter, turning him around to meet him face to face. He had to look up just to glare into the Sergeant's eyes.

"You shouldn't be here. You should be in a goddamn psych ward, sir." Jaden had been set off. Rikter was a piece of shit but he didn't think he was this much of a piece of shit. Someone had to put him in his place, consequences be damned.

PFC. Raymond Evans

At the sight of MacNamara's reaction, Evans quickly reacted by turning around and making sure the crowd was safely out the way.
He knew from his two superior's reputations that this could get out of hand fast and likely wouldn't stay confined to the small munitions tent.

"Everyone move the fuck back! This is about to get ugly!", he yelled.

The crowd quickly caught on and move a few steps back to ensure their safety. Evans then followed suit and made sure he was far enough back to where he wouldn't get dragged into the ensuing fight.

Sgt. Michael Rikter

Sgt. Michael Rikter's grin almost cut his face in half. If Rikter hadn't been wearing his dark goggles, everyone would have seen that his eyes had begun to gleam the moment that the Corporal grabbed Rikter and got in his face.

"Oh. Thank. Fucking. GOD!" Rikter reared his head back and gave Jaden the heaviest headbutt he could manage. He actually did it in sync with his shouting of the Lord's name.

The Corporal's grip broke and he was forced back a few feet as blood went running down his nose. The Sergeant also had to take a few steps back as the force of his attack rebounded into his skull. Rikter's gripped his forehead with both hands and bent over for just a moment.

Cpl. Jaden MacNamara

Jaden reared back, the headbutt caused a resounding crack and blood immediately poured from his nose, and it was skewed at entirely the wrong angle. There was no question that it was broken.

Oh that mother fucker was gonna pay.

Jaden shook off the pain took advantage of his superior's guard being briefly broken. He stepped in and grabbed his opponent by the throat, lifting his head level, slammed his gauntleted left fist into Rikter's face as hard as he could, the metal reverberated and the Corporal had to pull away to shake the trembling sensation out of his arm.

Sgt. Michael Rikter

"Ah! Fuck!" Rikter shouted through a freshly bruised jaw. "Shon of a bitsch!" He reached into his mouth and pulled out bloody fingers. "I think you chipped a tooth... ugh..."

Rikter stood up straight and readied himself again before take a few quick steps towards the Corporal. Along with the momentum of walking towards the Corporal, Rikter crouched slightly and reared his armored fist back before quickly giving Jaden's gut a sort of uppercut.

Cpl. Jaden MacNamara

Jaden buckled over and choked out a distorted cough "Bitch... agh, FUCK YOU!" He full body tackled the Sergeant, both men ripping through the side of the tent and rolling across the hard ground in full armor, trying to gain the advantage and trading blows.

Lt. Waylan Rhodes

"What the fucking hell he is doing?" Lt. Rhodes whispered to himself as Pvt. York came sprinting across the Armor Bay trying rip a Bolo grenade off of his back. As soon the young munitions officer approached the lieutenant, Waylan simply grabbed him by both shoulders, spun him around, and took the Bolo grenade off before tossing it aside. Waylan proceeded to ask the man who had stuck the grenade to him. The frightened, slightly traumatized gear pointed towards the munitions office before simply saying, "Sgt. Rikter."

"Motherfucker," Lt. Rhodes began marching over to the munitions office, until he spotted Sgt. Rikter and Cpl. MacNamara rolling around in the dirt smacking the shit out of each other. Picking up Mac's Gnasher shotgun, Lt. Rhodes kicked Sgt. Rikter off of the corporal ordering them both to "Stand the fuck up!"

"You two look like a couple of wretches trying to fuck a thrashball!" Lt. Rhodes screamed in the most menacing voice he could muster, quoting one of his old drill sergeants. The lieutenant proceeded to let out a long exhausted sigh, as he clenched his fingers against the bridge of his nose, before saying, "Now, Sgt. Rikter, Mac, why don't one of you explain what the hell is going on here?"

Cpl. Jaden MacNamara

Jaden stood and wiped blood from his nose. Yeah. Definitely broken. His eyes were watery and his ribs hurt. He tried to shrug it off. "Sarge here thought it would be a funny ass idea to bolo-tag Private York. That little altercation you walked in on was just me giving him a hand kicking himself over it."

Jaden avoided eye contact with his LT. He didn't guess he'd be in any lasting trouble. He hadn't technically started the fight. And Rikter had it coming. But he did assault a fellow Gear, and a higher ranked one at that. There was potential for a shit storm. A shit storm he didn't need.

Who the hell would be here making sure his "family" got fed if he got discharged? Or worse. Picking the fight had been a bad move and he knew it. It didn't help that the way Rhodes scolded them made him feel like an unruly child.

Sgt. Michael Rikter

Rikter's grenades clanked lightly against his armor as he stood himself upright and began to dust off his chest plate and shoulders. He rolled his tongue under three bloody molars on the right side of his mouth and discovered that they were all chipped.

"Tuh!" was the sound that came out of Rikter's mouth as he spit bloody chips of tooth onto the ground. Rikter then rolled his shoulders cockily and stood up straight as he faced the Lieutenant. "First of all," he began and held one finger up to illustrate his first point, "it was a dud."

"Secondly," Rikter went on, placing his hand back down at his side, "don't let Jaden take all the glory. I definitely hit him first. I'd hate for him to be kicked out of the squad for no reason, I'd lose my punching bag."

It wasn't exactly a lie, but it was clear that Rikter was defending Jaden. After all, Rikter would really be annoyed if a soldier so daring enough to hit a commanding officer were kicked out of his squad; Rikter would lose a source of entertainment between the fights with the grubs if that happened.

Lt. Waylan Rhodes

The lieutenant eyed the two hot-headed Gears over, understanding that their anger and brute strength would be useful on the battlefield, but realized that their hate for each other could become hazardous to the rest of Omega-Two. Sgt. Rikter might be the biggest asshole in Jacinto, but he was damn fine warrior, and Cpl. MacNamara, being a former Stranded had his own share of hardship, which would have no doubt formed him into an exceptional fighter.

"I will in no way kick a fellow Gear out of my unit, and there's no way in hell anyone's getting discharged. If you're a Gear, you're gonna die a Gear! Until every last single grub is dead, none of you are getting out of the COG!" Lt. Rhodes responded in a very serious tone.

Strolling up behind the lieutenant having witnessed the whole thing, Staff Sergeant Nila Farris placed her hand upon Waylan's right shoulder before saying, "Ah, come on, Waylan, the boys here were just having a bitta' fun. No need to be a stick in the mud."

Serving with Omega-Two for almost as long as the lieutenant, Nila knew she could address Waylan however she wanted to. Waylan turned his head to examine Nila. Like most Kashkuri women she was very beautiful, but she was not without imperfections. She had at least two notable battle scars: A cut extending from the corner of her left eyebrow to an area slightly above her left ear, and a gruesome burn mark consuming most of her upper back. Aside from the scars, she had a light brown shade of skin, brown eyes, dark hair, and many tribal tattoos extending across her arms, neck, and legs.

The lieutenant then let a smile slip, turning away from his men, before turning back around and saying, "Well, Nila, it's damn good to see you. I was just about to go look for a babysitter. Congratulations, you get to ride in the Centaur with them."

"Really, Waylan? Why me?" Nila replied, seemingly annoyed, in her thick Kashkuri accent.

"Well, first of all, you're the best driver and you know how to repair it if shit goes wrong, and I have a feeling that it will. Second, in case one of us dies, Omega-Two will still have a competent leader," Lt. Rhodes answered in a plainer tone.

"Competent, that's something to say about yourself," Nila joked before glancing back at Cpl. MacNamara and Sgt. Rikter. "Sure, I'll take 'em, but they better not get blood in my Centaur."

"Good, I'm also gonna need you to take Seph, Malvo, and Gallagher. Everyone else will be riding in the King Raven with me. Best to divide the squad in half." The lieutenant stated. 

"Understood, Waylan," Nila responded, "What's with this gloomy attitude of yours, today? You don't think we're all gonna die, do you?"

Waylan stared at Nila silently for a brief moment before replying, "I'm just not looking forward to going home, Staff Sergeant."

There was an eerie moment of silence among Omega-Two before Lt. Rhodes looked back up at his unit, and said, "Okay, Omega, start loading in. It's gonna be a long ride," Waylan then turned to Cpl. MacNamara and advised, "Mac, try not to die out there, you gotta family to take care of."

Cpl. Jaden MacNamara

Mac couldn't meet the LT's eyes "Yeah. Yeah, I'll try." he mumbled under his breath, toying with the ring hanged with his COG tags. He turned to Malvo as he passed by "Hey. Hey you seen my mask?" Jaden had realized too late the the same headbutt that broke his nose had sent his breathing apparatus flying. Malvo gave a shrug and Jaden sighed. Unless someone picked it up, which was as unlikely as his nose ever being straight again.

"Alright, one more thing, Malvo. Uh. How bad's my face?"

The Private shook his head

"That bad huh. Alright. Uh. Look here private. I need you to set my nose." Malvo looked nervous "I know there's a medic around here, but I don't feel like waiting. Look, you can't make it worse. Look grab it like-- Ah fuck! Y...yeah, now pull!" There was a  sickening crack and blood gushed from his nasal cavities anew.

Jaden blinked a few times "Fuck! Someone toss me a damn rag!" A bit of gauze was forced into the Corporal's hand and he did it best to stuff it into his bloody nose. "It... It look any better."

Malvo sighed. "It's not.... AS crooked." Close enough.

Jaden turned toward Rhodes and raised his hand "LT, shotgun please? Don't wanna lose that too."

Lt. Waylan Rhodes

"Here you go, Mac. Take good care of her now," Lt. Rhodes stated, eyeing Nila over the corporal's shoulder, as he handed the Gnasher back over to him. Waylan then looked back at the corporal, checking out his bloodied nose, before saying, "Listen, Mac, I'm putting a lot faith in you today. With the COG launching something this big, the grubs are bound to be setting up some sort of counter-attack, so I want you to stay on your toes and do whatever Nila needs you to do."

"She'll probably have you loading the main cannon," Waylan assumed. Placing his hand on Mac's shoulder, Waylan very plainly explained, "You and Rikter are just going to have to make it work. You might hate him right now, but he's still a Gear and a Gear is a brother."

The lieutenant nodded, feeling as if he made his point, and proceeded over to his King Raven as he called out to PFC. Evans, "Evans, you're with me! Let's go!"

PFC. Raymond Evans

Raymond blinked twice and snapped back into his normal state of mind. He had gotten lost in thought, thinking about how the Gears are the complete opposite of what he expected. He expected trained and serious soldiers, yet they in reality were more like... frat boys. They were rude, unruly, and he would even say incompetent if he hadn't read the reports on their accomplishments himself.

"Yes sir!" he replied to Lt. Rhodes.

He followed Rhodes in silence thinking about the kindest way to suggest completely straightening MacNamara's nose without offending the volatile Corporal.

He got on the Raven and sat across from Lt. Rhodes. He looked at his CO and considered asking why he was so lenient on the guys back there, but he had a feeling he already knew the answer.

Lt. Waylan Rhodes


As the Raven's engines revved up preparing to depart from the base, Lt. Rhodes examined PFC. Evans wondering just how old he was when Emergence Day happened. Assuming that he was eight or nine and living in Jacinto, Evans probably didn't witness the worst E-Day had to offer. 

While I was in Halvo Bay, what was this kid doing? Just how many people did he lose? Waylan thought.

"What the hell, LT?!" Pvt. Vincent York shouted right into Waylan's ear, breaking the lieutenant's train of thought, before continuing his complaint, "Why the hell did you let Rikter get away that?! He stuck a fucking a Bolo grenade on my back! I don't give a shit if it was fake or not! It's not fucking cool!"

"First of all, Private, you wouldn't give a shit if it was a real grenade, because you'd be fucking dead," Lt. Rhodes explained, "Seeing as how you didn't blow the hell up, tells me you actually do give a shit."

"So, what you're not going to do anything?!" Pvt. York whined.

"I don't have the time to court-martial anybody right now. The COG needs soldiers today and I am going provide all the soldiers I can. So, if you're still bitter and not dead at the end of this op, I will consider doing something about Rikter, or we could just reassign you to a different squad," Waylan very clearly stated.

Pvt. York looked away for a moment, thinking about trading out for another squad once he got back, before asking, "Why not just reassign Rikter?"

Waylan smirked, letting out a slight laugh, before answering, "Because, Vince, Rikter is like a sick, violent stray dog. Nobody wants him. Except for me, because I fucking love dogs, and I really fucking love dogs that spit fire and blow shit up." 

_________________________________________________________________________________________

SSgt. Nila Farris

"Oi, Mac, you looking for this?!" Nila yelled out to the corporal, her voice muffled under Mac's breathing apparatus, as she stood atop the Centaur waving out to him. "I cleaned out most of the blood!"

She then leaned back against the main cannon awaiting her fireteam to board the Centaur.

Sgt. Michael Rikter

Rikter made a grab for another Bolo grenade when no one was looking before grabbing his Scorcher Flamethrower and walking over to the Centaur tank with the other half of the squad.

"Alright, guys!" Rikter shouted as he climbed aboard the Centaur and began pulling himself up to the hatch. Once he reached the top hatch and swung his legs in, Rikter turned back to look at the other men boarding the Centaur. "Let's spit fire and blow shit up!" he shouted once again before sliding into the mechanized behemoth.

The Sergeant crawled through the Centaur's innards and made his way to his rightful spot in the cockpit-like compartment that contained the controls to the main cannon. Rikter's hands latched on to the two main control sticks - his fingers rubbing the triggers sensually. These two sticks looked exactly the same and had to be operated in sync - for safety purpose - to control the main cannon: moving both of them left or right would make the cannon turn in that direction and only by pulling both triggers would it fire. Rikter looked up and grinned at his own reflection in the dark monitor that displayed the targeting system.

Cpl. Jaden MacNamara

Jaden holstered the shotgun as he listened to Rhodes' mini-speech. Kill grubs protect the LT's not-girlfriend. Easy enough. But Jaden's heart fell a little at Rhodes' last point.

You and Rikter are just going to have to make it work.

If that was even possible.

a Gear is a brother.

Jaden sighed as he made his way to the Centaur. A Gear is a brother. He knew that. He already believed it. But sometimes your brother picks on your other sibling and you have to stand up to him. Sometimes your brother breaks your nose, and you want to break his ribcage in half. And sometimes, even after a fight your brother tries to take the blame so you won't be in trouble.

I definitely hit him first. I'd hate for him to be kicked out of the squad for no reason

What the hell was Rikter playing at? Did he respect Jaden? Was he just trying to save face? Mac's silent contempation was sharply interupted by a distorted Kashkuri shout.

"Oi, Mac, you looking for this?!" There stood the Staff Sergeant, posted up against the Centaur's main gun. It cut a hell of a heroic image. "I cleaned out most of the blood!"

Jaden half smiled and heaved himself up to the Staff Sergeant, relieving her of his mask and replacing it on its rightful spot on his face. "Ugh. Smells like... chick." He grumbled in his distorted voice. Farris shot him a look and he chuckled.

"Alright, guys! Let's spit fire and blow shit up!" Rikter called out before sliding into the Centaur. Jaden boarded next, crawling the opposite direction of his Sergeant, and taking his spot next to the loading mechanism. Rikter shoots, breech opens, jam a shell in, close the breech, repeat. It wasn't rocket science.

"Careful Sarge. Keep talking like that and we might get along after all!" Mac shouted, heaving an artillery shell into his lap.

Lt. Waylan Rhodes

Pvt. York became confused.

"Sir, I mean no disrespect but how did a man like Rikter even rise up to the rank of sergeant? I'm surprised he isn't still a private or worse, dead."

The lieutenant looked at York and chuckled before answering his question, "Well, Vince, I guess you could say Rikter was in the right place at the right time. He managed to single-handily burn through an entire horde of grubs and save a high ranking official. After the official finished changing into a cleaner pair of pants, he promoted Rikter to Sergeant, overruling any objections Rikter's CO had at the time, and then he gave Rikter a medal."

Pvt. York looked Waylan square in the face and replied, "Are you fucking serious?!"

"I shit you not, Vince, that is exactly what happened," Lt. Rhodes responded in a much lighter tone. 

Looking back towards Pvt. Evans, Waylan said, "Hey, Evans, I'd really like you tell me a bit about yourself. What was it like on E-Day for you? Locust can't penetrate the rock beneath Jacinto, so I can't imagine it was too bad here."

_________________________________________________________________________________________

SSgt. Nila Farris

Ugh. Smells like... chick.

"What the hell's that suppose to mean?" Nila retorted, shooting Mac a confused glare, before crawling to the driver seat. Wrapping her hands around the steering wheel, Nila revved up the Centaur. Hearing that loud roar blasting from the Centaur's engine brought a shiny, white grin across Nila's face. "You boys ready to steamroll some grubmeat!" She shouted with enthusiasm. 

Both Malvo and Gallagher let out a sharp howling cheer.

"Well, shit, guys, put out an eardrum, why don't ya?!" Cpl. Phillips responded, annoyed by the frantic pre-battle screaming.

"Sorry, Seph, didn't mean to get ya all riled up." Malvo replied, only half-sincere with his apology, before asking, "Why you always gotta be so sensitive anyways?"

"I'm not sensitive, Malvo." Seph retorted, mocking Malvo's hick accent, before letting out a sigh. "There are three things that I like in this world: Peace, Quiet, and Security."

"Well, then you must be thinking of a different world because Sera ain't got none of that shit!" Pvt. Gallagher joked causing near about everyone in the tank to erupt in laughter.

"Security!" Malvo shouted trying to stifle his laughter, "Is that why you always take the middle seat of every vehicle you hop into."

"Yeah, asshole, it is," Seph replied, "I like this spot. It's cozy and it's fucking safe. Hell, I'm in the safest spot in the whole goddamn Centaur.

Nila couldn't help but giggle throughout the entire argument as she pulled the Centaur out of Wrightman Base and onto the highway.

PFC. Raymond Evans

Evans looked down at his feet.

"At first people didn't really react because everyone thought it was a big joke. But when confirmation came in the entire city went into a damn panic attack. The government tried to keep everyone calm but that barely worked. Soon people that weren't killed in the initial attacks flooded into the city and the living conditions quickly went to shit. Military tried to contain it but everyone, even to this day, is still almost always on edge." He explained, never once taking his eyes off the floor. "But I guess we did have it luckier than most... at least we're still alive. If only just..." he said looking back at the lieutenant with a half-smile.

Lt. Waylan Rhodes

After listening to Raymond's story, the lieutenant somberly shook his head, letting out an ashamed sigh, and said, "I'm sorry about that, Evans. That was insensitive of me. I know for a fact that it was bad all over. I shouldn't have assumed otherwise."

Feeling the need to change the subject, Waylan broke into another story, "See these scars going across my face? First fucking day on the field. Goddamn wretches swarmed me. One of the little fuckers cut me something deep. I got blood oozing down my neck, one of the little shits is sinking its teeth into my arm, and my goddamn retro lancer is jamming on me! So, I rip the bayonet off my lancer and go to work on these monkey-dog fucks slicing and shanking them left and right! Broke one of their necks with my foot while strangling another one. Finally, my CO runs over and starts blazing the little fucks!"

Pvt. Fillmore glanced over at the lieutenant, heavily amused the story, before saying, "Wow, LT, that's some badass shit!"

"What? Badass?" Lt. Rhodes chuckled, "No, it's not! Badass is not failing to reload your weapon. Badass is not standing dead center in a swarm of wretches. Most importantly, badass is not getting half your goddamn face ripped off on your first fucking mission! I'll tell ya what it was, it was reckless."

Fillmore's eyes widened, shocked by the lieutenant's response, and simply replied, "Oh."

"Yeah," Lt. Rhodes replied, "Halvo Bay fucking sucked, but I left that hellhole a braver man. A better man. Hell, that place made me a Gear."