Anvil Gate. No POV.

War. Humans are no strangers to war.

"Incoming!"

BOOM!

An explosion went off in the courtyard of Anvil Gate, a gear wiped some dirt off his face and helped up another gear. This gear was no ordinary Solider, he is an Onyx Guard. His armor was black as a starless night except for a paint job on his chest, it was the Crimson Omen symbol, on his lower back were extra pouches for supplies and a canteen and he had his commando knife on his left chest plate. His helmet in hand so his face was shown, he had white skin, dark red hair that was turning gray, and a scar on his left eyebrow and another on his right cheek, and dark brown eyes. This is Sergeant Johnny Rico.

"Get up, Private! You ain't dying yet!" Rico shouted, bringing the Gear up to his feet.

"Sergeant!" Rico looked up and saw Bernie up on the gate "Get your squad up here, now! We need every single solider we have!"

"Got it! Alpha Squad! Get your shit and meet up on the wall! We gotta push these grubs back!" Rico gave the order to his squad over the comms.

"Copy that, sir." Soon three more Onyx Guards showed up, their armor the same but with a little flare to match their taste. One Guard changed his colors from black to the standard dark blue color of regular COG soldiers, a Kuri knife on his left shoulder, he had blue goggles on his head, tan skin, short gray hair, and had a soul patch on his chin, he carried a black Lancer and a Gnasher Shotgun. James Ramirez.

Next Gear had the same black armor as Johnny but had the words "Hope" on his chest, he had brown skin, dark blue eyes, a shaved head, and a cross tattooed on his left eye, he also had a helmet with red optics on instead of blue, he had a black Lancer and a UIR sniper Rifle, Markza, pained dark blue, and dangling just off his scope was a little steel bracelet that had the words "Faith" engraved in it. Joseph Castillo.

The last Gear wore the black armor but his armor was more bulkier, had a neck guard, and more broader shoulders. He had white skin, white hair, black eyes, and a burn COG symbol on his left cheek. He carried a Lancer and a Boom shot cannon. George McGraw. This is Alpha Squad.

"Come on, Alpha! We gotta get top side and help at the front lines! Joseph, get up on one of the towers and provide cover!"

"Yes, sir!" Joseph put on his goggles and ran up towards the ladder, climbing his way up to one of the towers.

"James, George! You two are with me! Let's move!" The Squad of Onyx Guards rushed up the ladder, Johnny using his chainsaw bayonet to cut through some flaming wooden debris to clear the way. The three made their way to the front lines and they looked on to see a massive army of Locust right at their doorstep.

"George! Man that Torika!" George strapped his Lancer to his back and manned the turret, revving it up as he fired down at the Locust

"Come and get some, you assholes! Eat lead!" George fired down on some Boomers and Grinders, making sure they couldn't deal heavy damage to the gates or two his comrades. Johnny and James ducked behind cover and fired down at the incoming Locust, bullets flying so close to them that they could feel it graze their faces and armor. Joseph reached the top of one of the towers and took position, taking out his sniper rifle and taking a deep breath

"Lord in Heaven, guide my hands. Let my aim be true. Let me send these demons back to Hell." Joseph prayed as he fired down at some of the Locust snipers. Blasting off their heads before they could even lift their guns.

"Joseph, target those manning the siege beasts." Johnny ordered him, Joseph zeroed in his scope and aimed at the siege beasts, targeting the gunners and taking them out.

"George! Focus fire on those Brumaks!" George turned the turret and fired at one of the Brumaks, taking out the wrists guns. The Brumaks roared in anger and fired its rockets at George

"Oh shit! Incoming!" George quickly left the turret and rolled away just as the rockets hit where he was, killing two gears that were caught in the blast. James ran over and helped George up

"Come on, you big bastard. You ain't dying yet." James and George took cover alongside Rico and open fired down at the incoming Locust. George used his Boomshot to take out a small pack of wretches. Then a pair of grapples caught on the wall

"Grapplers! Take them out!" Rico and his Squad were quick to run to the hooks and shot them off, but one drone was able to climb up. Roaring as he brandished his Hammerburst. Until George grabbed the drone by his arms and kicked the drone off the wall, the force of his kick and the grip on his arms were so powerful that the arms of the drone were torn clean off. George scoffed and tossed the arms over the wall

"Damn stinking grub." He groaned. Joseph took down another Grinder and soon aimed at the Brumak.

"May my aim be true. May my hand be steady." Joseph prayed as he took a deep breath, the Brumak took notice of Joseph's presence and roared, aiming its rockets at him "My faith is unwavering. My rage... Unquenchable." Joseph waited until he saw the finest flash from the rocket before pulling the trigger. The bullet flew through the air, hurtling towards the rocket. The bullet came in contact with the tip of the rocket and it exploded, creating a chain of explosion as the other rockets went off, soon blowing up the Brumak to a smoking pile of meat.

"DIE YOU DAMN FUCKING DEMONS! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU!" Joseph screamed out in unadulterated rage. His screams the sounds of bullets were all he could hear as he fired down at more Locust. Until he heard the clicking sound of his empty Markza that he finally heard his Sergeant's voice

"JOSEPH!!!" Joseph looked up just in time to see a catapult hurling towards him

"I'm coming, Emily." Joseph closed his eyes and accepted his death. A massive explosion erupted as the tower Joseph was on collapsed, coming down on the wall.

"Nooo! Goddamnit! You fucking grubs! I'll kill all of you!" George screamed as he fired another Boomshot at a squad of drones.

"We have to get off this wall! Now!" Rico ordered as he grabbed and pulled George back, the three Onyx Guards retreating back to the inner courtyard.

"All personal! They breached the main gates! Retreat to the inner courtyard!" Bernie's voice rang over the intercoms.

"James! Stay on the catwalk and provide us with cover! George, you're with me on the ground." Johnny gave out their orders and the two gears did as they were ordered. James took behind cover as Johnny, George, and other gears took position. The Locust horde storming through the gates

"Open fire!" Hoffman shouted as they all rained bullets on the incoming Locust

"For the Queen!" A Theron Guard hissed, firing a Torque Bow, hitting a Gear in the arm

"Ahhh! Get it off! Get it off me!" The Gear screamed before blowing up into pieces. George stood from behind cover and fired his Lancer, aiming for the Theron Guard

"Come here, you slimy bastard!" George shouted, hitting a few drones as the Theron Guard kept running, soon ducking behind an exploded truck for cover. Locust Grenadiers then rushed in carrying Gnasher shotguns

"Move out!" A Grenadier shouted to his squad as they rushed in, killing a few Gears once they were close enough. One Grenadier made a beeline for a downed Gear but was quickly gunned down by James

"You ugly motherfuckers! Keep hitting them!" James shouted as he and some other Gears gave the ones on the ground support.

"Reavers!" A Gear shouted as two Reavers landed down and let out a blood curling screech. The Gears all open fired at the two Reavers but they fired rockets and the gunner on the two Reavers fired down at them. George took out his Boomshot and fired at one of the Reavers, exploding right in its face, it screeched out in pain and was then blinded due to the explosion. It roared and started shooting rockets randomly, blasting at the catwalk

"Oh shit! Watch out!" James rolled away to avoid getting blown up the the catwalk was blasted down. James rolled down and landed on the ground, groaning as his ears were ringing. He looked to the side and saw his Lancer a few feet away from him, James slowly crawled over to his Lancer only to see it get kicked away by a Locust Drone, the Drone roared as he raised his Lancer and aimed to cut James down, but James quickly rolled over and pulled out his snub pistol and started shooting. The Drone raised his Lancer to shield his face as the bullets hit the gun or his chest, due to the Drone's unnatural anatomy it was able to take the shots. The chainsaw bayonet revved up and the Drone charged at James, bringing down the Lancer on him. James grabbed the Lancer and held it back from him. James grunted as he used all his strength to keep the chainsaw from sawing him in half while the Drone laughed and mocked him. James let one hand go and then kicked the Drone over his head, rolling back to his feet. The Drone got back up and roared but James tapped his chest, the Drone looked confused until he looked down and saw a drag grenade strapped to his chest

"Uh oh." Was the last words the Drone spoke before blowing into bloody chunks. James laughed as he got back up, dusting himself off and turned around, only to be sawed in half by a Lancer. The Theron Guard laughed as he then kicked James lifeless corpse away. Rico and George killed one of the Reavers and looked over to see the Theron Guard standing over James, their eyes widened and their blood ran cold as the Theron Guard looked over, and the two swore they saw that ugly bastard smile.

"Noooooooooooooooo!" Rico let his rage take control as he charged at the Theron Guard but the other Reaver fired a rocket at Rico and sent him flying back. Rico groaned and looked up to see the Reaver standing overhead. It screeched loudly and raised one of its clawed tentacles, bringing it down on him. Rico expected to die until he saw that George had jumped in and took the hit

"George!" Rico cried out, George coughed up blood and smirked, bringing up his Boomshot with one hand. The Reaver roared to intimidate the Battle hardened Onyx Guard, but George just said one word in the face of death

"Boom." George fired his Boomshot right into the Reavers' mouth and it exploded, knocking George back. Rico crawled over to George and removed his helmet, looking down at the badly injured Gear. George took off his Cog tags and handed them to Rico "N-N... Never... Forget... Why we... Fight..." George gasped before his eyes went dark, lifeless. Rico gritted his teethes and put George's Cog tags into his pouch and grabbed his Lancer.

"GrrrrAAAAAARRRRRGH!" Rico roared as he ran towards the incoming Locust horde, firing at them and dropping them like flies, he threw a frag grenade at a fuel tank, blowing it and a good small hoard of grubs. Rico revved up his chainsaw bayonet and charged at a Locust, shoving the spinning blades into the Locust and flipped him overhead, firing into another Locust. Bullets flew and more and more Locust fell to the enraged Gear. A torque arrow flew past Rico's head and he turned to see the Theron Guard, the two locked eyes and started shooting at each other, Rico was running towards him until Hoffman called out to him

"Sergeant! We gotta fall back! We're making our last stand!" Hoffman shouted, Rico cursed under his breath as he saw the Theron Guard run back to the Horde. Rico groaned as he retreated back to the last gate, seeing Hoffman, Bernie, and other Gears setting up for one last stand. Rico grabbed a Mulcher and set up behind some sandbags as the Gate exploded and Locust started charging in "Open fire!" Bullets flew and blood was spilled, Rico mowed down numerous Locust with the Mulcher

"Get some! Come on, get some you damn grubs! This is for George! And James! And Joseph!" Rico took down a Boomer who fired after death, killing a few of its fellow Locust. Soon the Mulcher ran out of ammo and Rico switched back to his Lancer, seeing the Theron Guard the two fired at each other once more.

Click

The two looked at their rifles to see they were out of ammo. The two glared at each other and then charged forward, revving up their chainsaw bayonets. Ignoring the hail of bullets flying by mere inches away from their bodies. Their saws clashed and sparks flew, the two opposing forces trying to overwhelm the other as much as they can. The Theron Guard slowly pushed Rico's lancer to the side, trying to make him lose balance until Rico headbutted the grub and kicked him. Rico then tackled the Theron Guard and started beating his face in

"You bastards took everything from me! My home! My family! My brothers! Now! I'm going to do the same thing to you, assholes!" Rico roared as he raised his right fist high and brought it down like the Hammer of Dawn in the Theron's head, smashing it to blood pieces. Rico panted heavily and stepped off the now dead grub and took out his Gnasher, seeing the rest of the Horde still coming. Rico took in a deep breath and charged forward, blasting Locust soldiers to bloody chunks flying around, the Locust took notice of the elite solider killing their comrades and focused their fire on him. Rico's armor held off most of the bullets but it could only hold out for so long. Rico bashed his shotgun against a Drone and jumped on top of a Boomer, shoving his shotgun into its mouth and blasting off its head. Rico ran towards some more Locust drones until he got shot in the chest by a Longshot, his armor was already near the breaking point and that was what pushed it off the edge. Rico gasped in pain as he felt the hot piece of lead in his chest, but he gritted his teeths and kept on fighting, when he ran out of ammo for his Gnasher he pulled out his combat knife and started slashing. Stabbing a drone in the head and slitting another's throat. Grinders stepped forward at him and Rico laughed, giving them the finger

"Fuck... You..."

"Grind!" The Grinders fired their mulchers and Rico was soon filled with bullet holes, falling back he gasped and coughed up blood. It was over... They lost... Until he saw something wash all over them. Rico, with what little strength he had left, sat up as much as he could to see that the Locust were... Dying! They were falling like flies as the strange aura wave washed dall over. Rico let out a weak smile and fell back

"We... Did it... It's finally..." Rico let out one last sigh before... Passing on.

Rico's POV

I gasped as I was suddenly hit with a burst of energy. Gasping as I sat up and touched my body, checking to see that I was alive! Wait, I'm alive? I looked down to see I was still wearing my Onyx Guard armor, next to me I saw my weapons, a Boltok pistol, and a couple of frag grenades. I reached into my pouch to see if I still had George's Cog tags, luckily I did.

"George... James... Joseph..." I slammed my fist on the ground as I cursed the fact that I was alive! Why?! They deserved to live, not me! I stood up and felt something a little off, I felt... Stronger? Like I had a lot more energy than I did before. I heard the sounds of a river nearby and grabbed my weapons, running over to the river I knelt down and took off my helmet. I then gasped at what I saw. It was... Me! Well, obviously, but I was younger! I looked like I was in my early to mid twenties! I touched my face to make sure it was real, and oh baby it was true!

"I don't know what the fuck that thing was, but I love it! Killing the grubs AND restoring my good looks? Hell yeah!" I laughed until I realized something I should've before. I was at Anvil Gate, not a forest. And we didn't have a river either, it was night time here too while back at Anvil Gate it was just the beginning of Sunrise. I put on my helmet and tried to radio in someone

"Colonel Hoffman, respond."

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

"Bernie, you there? This is Alpha One, Sergeant Johnny Rico. Please respond."

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Crap. More static. Well, wherever I am I sure as Hell ain't back on the Mainlands, at least not back at Anvil Gate that's for sure. I took out my canteen and drank the cool water until it was empty, filling it up I poured some over my head to try and help me regain my focus. Shaking my head and refilling the canteen I put on my helmet and started walking, until I heard the sounds of... A firefight! I didn't know who or what it was that was shooting, but it's the only thing I knew the sounds of so it was my best bet to find someone who could help me. I ran off towards the sounds, making sure my weapons were locked and loaded in case I needed to fight.

"It never ends..."

NO POV

Overhead, far from prying eyes, a figure looked down at the Sargent as he ran through the forest. A sad, pleading look on the figures face as she clasped her hands together

"Please... Please help my little ponies..."

Author's Note

For some added ref of the Onyx Guard armor here it is. Also, George's armor is inspired by Redburns armor from Gears of War Tactics
Onyx Guard armor

Redburn's armor