Gears of War

by Jason M. Hough

  The words got through. Cole lurched and threw the mech back to the dirt, laid it out, then started to tumble over and over across the now-steaming landscape. The effort didn’t douse the flames on his suit, but did smear the foul-smelling slime across the ground. Eventually there was so little left on his armor that the flames just petered out.

  Cole piloted the suit into a shaky upright position, where he paused to check his arms and legs.

  “Is it out?”

  “Looks like it,” Marcus said. They were twenty feet away from him now. Little green fires still dotted the landscape all around them. “What the hell is that stuff?”

  “It reeks,” Lovings said, covering his nose with one arm.

  “Burns a hell of a long time, too.” Marcus crouched near a patch, watching it. “Swarm corruption?” he guessed. They’d all seen it happen to DeeBees, turning them into what Del had dubbed “Rejects,” but this was the first time Kait had ever heard of a Tracker being corrupted. She kicked some dirt onto the little patch of flame, smothering it.

  “Must have mixed with the explosives packed inside,” she said. “Converted it into this… stuff.”

  “Good thing there was only one.”

  It was Lovings who said it.

  Kait knew she would never forgive him.

  Six more Trackers suddenly rolled from the back section of the plane.

  “Get back!” Marcus shouted.

  They all fired at once, walking backward.

  The corruption that had transformed the Trackers’ explosives had also ruined their logic circuits too, though. Kait watched as they rolled away from the ruined fuselage and took random, curving paths outward from the plane. Two even bumped into each other, detonating prematurely and sending flames raining in all directions.

  Picking the others off from a safe distance took only a few seconds. She shot two with her Lancer, while Marcus and Lovings handled the rest.

  “Did you have to?” Marcus asked the young Gear.

  “How was I supposed to know?”

  A shadow crossed over the barren landscape. Kait glanced up.

  “Get back to the trucks,” she said. “NOW!”

  4: NOTHING MORE THAN A BLUR

  The flock spiraled and twisted, all bunched up together like a school of fish. It was a larger group than those she’d seen at Settlement 2. A hundred Leeches or more, all moving as a single organism. They moved so fast and turned so quickly it was impossible to tell which route they’d take. All she knew was they would come, and anyone they passed over would be torn to shreds.

  Any human, that was.

  She glanced at the rows of DeeBees hanging from their racks in the two halves of the broken Condor.

  “Marcus, the DeeBees!” She ran toward the front half of the plane, pointing toward the rear. Marcus took off toward it.

  Lovings raced away, back to his Minotaur, and fired up the engine. As Kait ran she heard the chain gun on Cole’s mech start to spin up, and made a mental note to thank Baird later for upgrading the big machine.

  Leeches began to fall from the sky as Cole swung his weapon about, but getting a solid bead on a flock was hard enough with a Lancer. Trying to get the Mega Mech to adjust its aim quickly was tough even for someone as skilled and as strong as Cole.

  “Sit still, ya little bastards!” he shouted.

  Kait pushed herself to a sprint, ignoring the Leeches. As she neared the fuselage, Del poked his head out of the window and held up the transponder.

  “Finally worked it loose,” he said, smiling. Then he saw the way Kait was running, and looked around.

  “Get back inside!” she shouted, just before she heard the creatures darting toward her. Throwing herself into the remains of the cargo bay, she didn’t dare to waste time looking back. Judging from the sound of it, they were right behind her and closing fast. She slid across the floor on her belly, the feet of hanging DeeBees jostling her back as she passed. They clanged together like a macabre windchime, then settled.

  Kait hit the far wall, turned over, and lifted her rifle.

  A silence lasted the blink of an eye.

  Then the cabin was full of them. Dozens of screeching, thrashing Leeches filling the air around her. Kait did the only thing she could do, and opened fire. Her Lancer tore into the tightly packed group. One Leech after another exploded in a spray of gore.

  There were way too many, though. They would soon fill the air around her and rip her to pieces. She kept firing.

  The gun clicked empty.

  Her eyes closed.

  Silence fell. Kait opened one eye, and saw that the creatures had ignored her. A few lay dead around her. Most had left, but the rest, a dozen or so, were attached to the hanging DeeBees, and their mechanical bodies were starting to twitch.

  “Del,” she said into her comm. “Get the hell out. Now.”

  “Don’t have to tell me twice!”

  “That is the second time I’ve told you.”

  “Okay, true, but you said to get back in!”

  Keeping her back to the wall, her gaze fixed on the DeeBees, Kait slowly exited the cargo bay. Most would simply be ruined by the Leeches, but there was a chance a few would survive the… coupling… and emerge as Rejects. Corrupted by the Swarm, somehow, like the Trackers outside.

  Once the sunlight hit her shoulders, Kait turned and ran. Del was right beside her, and they raced for the Minotaur. Marcus was nowhere to be seen. Cole still fired wildly at the sky, burning through ammo at a ferocious rate. Meanwhile, Lovings hit the accelerator and raced straight toward Kait and Del, swerving at the last second to go around them.

  “What the hell, man?” Del had to dive out of the way.

  Helping him up, Kait turned to see Lovings drive straight into a flock which had been seconds from tearing into her and Del. There was a sound like hailstones pelting a tin roof as he powered the Minotaur through the writhing pack. Some of the creatures flowed around the truck, but many slammed into its front grille and armored windows. None seemed to make it inside.

  The Outsiders in back had closed the canvas covering.

  “Get to the other Minotaur,” Kait told Del. “Secure that flight recorder and tell the Outsiders to close the canvas.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Find Marcus.”

  She and Del looked at one another, and he nodded, understanding that she meant Marcus or Marcus’s remains—whatever happened to be out there.

  “Good luck,” he said.

  “You too.”

  Del twisted away and raced for the truck. She started to turn toward Marcus’s last position when she saw the Minotaur Del was running toward make a sudden lurch forward. Pasco was in the driver’s seat, staring through the tiny slit that served as a front window. Several of the other Outsiders were crammed in there with him.

  All she could see were his eyes, but that was enough. She nodded at him, and he began to drive.

  “Get in!” she heard from far behind her. Pasco’s voice was barely audible over the revving engine, and Del’s reply was lost in the chaos, but an instant later she heard the door slam shut.

  Kait started toward the plane, and when the sound of the Minotaur’s engine grew loud she turned and leapt up onto the running board, grabbing the side-view mirror for support. Making herself small, she crouched behind the flared wheel well and held her Lancer in her left hand. Three Rejects emerged from the front half of the plane, staggering toward the back half which lay a hundred feet beyond.

  “Marcus must be in there!” she shouted to Pasco.

  At her voice, and the roar of the approaching truck, the Rejects turned. Pasco plowed right through their ranks, but they were spread out too far. One took the full brunt of the truck’s force, slamming right into the center of the grille. The other two whizzed past. Kait took a few potshots at one, who passed only a few feet from her, but it was impossible to aim or even know if she’d hit anything.

  The Reject was nothing more than a blur.


  She twisted, facing forward. In the distance, Lovings made a wide arc in his truck, the flock chasing him to no avail—for now. Cole’s Mega Mech was standing out there, too, still pouring rounds into their midst. He’d whittle them down eventually, unless he ran out of ammo first.

  With the corrupted DeeBees behind them, Pasco made for the back half of the airplane.

  “Jump!” he shouted as they neared it. “I’ll circle around!”

  Kait jumped, hit the dirt, and rolled, then came to a stop on one knee, Lancer ready. There was no time to waste, so she rushed forward at a full sprint into the darkness of the tail section.

  Her eyes took a moment to adjust.

  Marcus was there, pinned against a wall by a Reject who had him by the neck. It squeezed, and Marcus—who had both hands wrapped around the DeeBee’s—strained with all of his formidable strength to keep his windpipe from being crushed.

  Kait did not hesitate. She walked up to the Reject, put a foot square in the middle of its back, gripped its control unit with two hands, and ripped it out. Instantly the corrupted robot’s hydraulics turned off. Its hands let go of Marcus, arms falling to its sides, completely slack.

  Still she kicked its legs out from under it. The DeeBee fell to the floor with a clang, the lights in its eyes still fading. Bringing the control unit down like a rock, she crushed the head of the mechanical monstrosity. Then she started to throw the control unit aside, but Marcus was suddenly there, a hand firmly around her forearm.

  “Keep it,” he said, his voice more gruff than usual.

  “Why?”

  “Baird can study it. Like the flight recorder. We need to figure out how to prevent this before it gets worse.”

  “How could it get worse?”

  Marcus fixed her with a knowing glare.

  “Forget I asked,” Kait said.

  “Thanks, by the way.” He let go of her arm.

  “Thank me later—we’re not out of this yet.”

  He shouldered past her, back out into the sun, ready to fight whatever was still standing. As Kait emerged behind him, however, she saw the battle was over. The last of the flock had perished under the relentless onslaught of Cole’s chain gun. Pasco’s truck was a few hundred feet away. It turned back to face them, engine still running. She couldn’t quite make out his eyes through the narrow window slit, but somehow knew he was there, staring at her, ready to run down any more enemies that might emerge.

  Del stood on the running board of the Minotaur’s cab, one hand up to shield his eyes from the glare.

  “We good?” he shouted.

  Kait waved him up, then gave the same gesture to Lovings. As the trucks arrived Cole walked over, knelt, and hopped down from the Mega Mech’s controls. The chain gun in the big machine’s hands slowly spun down, smoke trailing from its barrels.

  “Damn!” the veteran said, dusting himself off. “I don’t mind fighting Swarm, but our own machines? That’s absolute bullshit if you ask me.”

  “Yeah. They fight so good now, too,” Del said. “Almost unbeatable, really. Tough, agile…”

  Cole shook his head. They all knew that Del had served as a training template for the robot’s combat AI.

  “Naw, I’d say they’re more like erratic. Unpredictable. Nuts.”

  Del seemed about to argue when the comm crackled.

  “Hold that thought,” he said, and talked into his comm. “Go ahead, control.”

  “What’s your status?”

  On a whim, Kait motioned Pasco over to listen in. After the assist he’d just given her, it seemed only fair. Outsider lives were on the line here too, after all.

  “We found the flight recorder,” Del said, “and some more corrupted DeeBees.”

  “That ain’t good,” Baird replied. “Can you bring me one of their control units?”

  Kait glanced at Marcus. “Way ahead of you,” she said. “Also, there were Trackers here that also seemed to be… err… infected.”

  “Trackers, huh? Oooookay. Their control unit is tough to get at in the field. If you can find one relatively intact, just bring the whole thing back here.”

  Del pulled a face. “Just to be clear, you want me to grab an unexploded intelligent landmine that’s under the control of an unknown substance that corrupts its behavior, and put it on the seat next to me? How’s that a good idea?”

  “Fair point,” Baird conceded. “Let Cole carry it. He’s good at that sort of thing. Might even hold a world record or two.”

  “Ah, not this shit again!” Cole replied. “You win six thrashball championships and suddenly it’s all anyone knows you for.”

  “You’ve got reinforcements on the way,” Baird said, ignoring him. “They should be waiting for you once you leave the Rend, and there will be another Mega Mech with them who can assist.”

  Cole nodded. “Alright. Hope they brought some extra ammo, I’m all out.”

  “You had a thousand rounds!”

  “Yeah, well, there was at least that many of those Leech motherfuckers.”

  Even through the comm, Kait thought she could see Baird’s eyes roll.

  “Just… get back here in one piece, okay? All of you? Jinn will have my head if we lose anyone on this little side-errand.”

  “Wait,” Del said, “Jinn doesn’t know about this?”

  “Of course not! Who do you think you’re talking to?”

  Hearing that, Kait shot a glance at Marcus, then Del. The last time Baird had sent them on an “errand” it had nearly gotten JD killed. Though, she amended, that was largely due to JD’s own decisions.

  “We will,” Del said. “Walker out.” He looked at the group. “Saddle up. We’re barely halfway home.”

  5: TRICK OF THE LIGHT

  The floor of the Rend proved hard-packed and bone dry for the next several miles, and blessedly free of any more Swarm. Through the dust, Kait thought she could see the cliff wall that marked the end of the basin, but it was hard to tell for sure.

  “How much farther?”

  “A mile,” Del replied. “Maybe less.”

  “Once we get past this,” Lovings said on the comm, “it’s not far to Jacinto Plateau and then a straight shot to New Ephyra. With any luck we’ll be there by dinner.”

  Kait knew enough to know you couldn’t make a “straight shot” through the fractured lands of the Jacinto Plateau, but she also knew that wasn’t really what Lovings meant. They were almost to cover, which was the important part. Out here, on the salt flats, they could be seen for miles. The plume of dust trailing behind them might even be visible from orbit.

  Ahead she saw Cole stop and turn around. He took up a defensive stance.

  “Something wrong up there, Cole?” she asked.

  “Negative! Just thought I’d watch your backs while you exit this lovely place.”

  And there it was. As Kait’s truck was pulled up to the Mega Mech, she could see that Cole had positioned himself beside a ravine about fifty feet across. It zigzagged its way up from the salt flats. Unlike the “road” they’d used to enter the Rend, this was very narrow—barely wide enough for a Minotaur—and made of soft sand and large rocks. The walls were sheer and ominous.

  “Suddenly I’m not thrilled with this idea,” Del said.

  Kait agreed.

  “We’re here, we’ve got Cole in a fifty-foot-tall suit of armor, let’s just get it done,” Marcus said.

  They started the climb.

  Then Kait saw the real reason for Cole wanting to bring up the rear. As soon as they took the first sharp corner of the ravine, her unpowered vehicle completely ignored her turn of the wheel. The tires just slid in the soft pack of sand and rubble.

  Cole came up behind her truck and nudged it, pointing it in the right direction again. Then Del eased forward and started to pull again. They went on like this, corner after corner, at what felt like an average of maybe five miles per hour.

  “This is going to take all day,” Kait said.

  “It was quicke
r coming down,” Lovings agreed.

  “Plus you aren’t towing anything,” Del said.

  For once Lovings was smart, and kept his mouth shut.

  The trucks inched along the ravine. It was nearly midday, and despite the steepness of the walls on either side of their route, sunlight baked the ground and turned the Minotaurs’ cabins into ovens. Only Kait was comfortable, having ditched her armor-plated windshield.

  A shadow fell over her, but when she glanced up there was only the glare. The edges of the ravine were barely visible against the sun’s brightness. She shielded her eyes, but could see nothing.

  “Anyone else see that?” she asked on the comm.

  “See what?” Del asked.

  Kait wasn’t sure what to say. Her visions had fooled her so many times recently that she hesitated to voice such things. Of course, that’s what just about got her—and everyone with her—killed, keeping such a vision to herself.

  “I thought maybe something flew over us. After that flock I’m a little on edge.”

  “Trick of the light, maybe?” Lovings asked.

  “I can barely see anything,” Del replied. “Cole, what about you?”

  “I’m just focused on Kait’s rear,” he responded. “Uh. That didn’t come out right. I’m looking at her behind. The truck. I’m focused on the rear of the truck.”

  Lovings barked a laugh, but when no one else joined in he quickly got himself under control. Kait shook her head, smiling a little despite herself. It amused her whenever Cole’s superstar confidence faltered, and the humble man shone through.

  “Baird, you send any aircraft with the reinforcements?” Kait asked on the comm. No reply came. Only static. “Must be the ravine walls,” she said hopefully. “Blocking the signal. If that was the reinforcements, they won’t be able to home in on us.”

  “Good point,” Cole said.

  “Can you climb up there and have a look? Just in case?”

  “Sure thing,” he replied, probably eager to do something other than babysit the damaged Minotaur.

  Twisting around in her seat and looking out the window, Kait watched him guide the Mega Mech up the ravine wall, coping with the soft rock, scaling it as expertly as if he were on a mountaineering expedition. He had to leap to reach the last handhold, then pulled himself up and over the edge. Hidden by the rock, and with the sun overhead, he was impossible to see.