GEARS OF WAR: FACEOFF is a non-canon short story about General RAAM and the Kantus Skorge. The story is based off of the characters views after Gears of War 2, and before any books or information about Gears of War 3 released.
Note: The short story is planned to break canon in a plausible way.
FACEOFF[]
RAAM[]
"Rise, Generaaall...you have ssssurvvived..." A hand gripped the fallen general by the back, trying to pull up the immense weight of the greatest locust general, RAAM. The Goliath breathed steadily, feeling his holes on his chest, his armor torn and battered by mulcher and explosive fire. The general frowned at his own pity, looking up at the locust trying to pull him up. RAAM pushed the small, glowing kantus out of the way, lifting himself off with one knee, grabbing a burnt out train wagon that had fallen from the tracks years ago.
Then he knew. Why he was standing in a puddle of thick, glowing blood.
"Fenix!" The general roared, and a nearby locust gripped it's ears. The roar was so inhuman, so unlocust, that any creature would now that the general was not dead, no matter how mutilated the voice was, it was recognized as RAAM, but not the same one. This RAAM was wounded, a sight never before seen by the lambent. This general had pushed them away with his armies...but now...they had the upper hand. He stood before them caughing and spitting out imulsion, obviously tainted by the fuel.
He looked around at incoming drones and beasts of various mutilations and mutations. Swarming around him were twenty or more former Horde, but now pushed out after being infected. Pushed out by RAAM.
They had built an army. But they needed a leader. No-matter how hated he was, he was the greatest mind of the locust army, and now the would be greatest mind in the lambent army. RAAM was still RAAM, but he would not be accepted due to failure, and his disease to the Horde, his only choices were rot and die, succomb to the lambent disease, becoming a mindless husk, or...do as they wished, and fight off that ringing in his head...the boiling in his body...
RAAM fell to one knee, caughing out what was likely the only crimson colored blood in his body...
"RAAM, rissse!" The kantus walked over, it's long claws gripping the weakened general by the throat, "I will not asssk again!"
RAAM brushed the kantus off, "Scum! Lambent!" He went to punch the former priest-But his arm. It was glowing a dark, dark yellow, unlike the kantus, who had been a diseased locust for a longer period of time, maybe a month, likely soon to mutate horribly, into a beast capable of might, not intelligence. But RAAM was astounded by one thing in paticular, he saw connected to his arm, his troika...it also glew...but it was amassed in flesh tangling around the gun, burmt blood sticking to it's side, and what RAAM thought was a vein dangling off the barrel.
RAAM looked at the kantus, and tried to pull the trigger. After a long period of time, and after much pain and a coughing fit-The priest exploded as a yellow shot blasted it in the torso, spraying him on the tree next to the cave entance, sittimg beside it a burning railroad.
RAAM then realized how he had lived...how he had fallen. How he had inally been beaten. Anger came up from the darkest corners of his soul.
"FENIX!" RAAM shot three more times into the red sky.
He remembered.
Bullets flew into him, crushing his chest, he ordered the kryll to attack, only to see them vaporized by a UV light mounted on the flying machine. He fired, smacking a human, clad in armor head to toe, off the raven. More bullets, and finally a long shot to the chest. He stood his ground
He fired on one raven, blasting it to the ground, but not before it rammed a reaver, shredding it to bits of gore and blood and bone.
RAAM turned to the human in light armor, carrying a gnasher and longshot, he charged smashed him to the ground, picking the human up by the neck."
"Dieeee Uum-!!!"
"Dom!" The other human fired into his back, forcing him to drop it's prey. Turning around, RAAM found himself too late, a glowing bulb shot straight threw his shoulder, piercing the wall directly behind him.
The explosien knocked him off his feet. He died
No. He could breathe...he could see. No matter how bloodied his vision was. Death was near. He looked on as a machine flew away, the thing hanging out unidentifiable. He looked ahead, barely capable of rising.
The train had left the tracks, and he fell off. He could not support his weight. The train ripped into the dark tunnel...
And he was ripped apart by trees. He landed smack into a river bed...it stunk of imulsion. As he looked up...fire blasted out of the tunnel, ingulfing a...corsper? Oh will...darkness filled his eyes...Doesn't matter.
I have failed.
He rembered it. And now...he bled orange and yellow...his weapon infuised in his hand. But he didn't think of that...He thought of Myrah. The last time they had touched...it had broken down his mind. He had showed he was affectionet...and that is why he had left to prove himself. He could kill...and love...her.
He'd get to her.
Locust had surrounded RAAM, their guns raised at him, each one unsure of what to do. There old general had just murdered their only kantus priest, but RAAM was to lead them. To overtake the queen while they still had a conscience and will to bring down the locust horde.
"I'm leaving." It was simple as usaul, but commanding and filled the others with fear. RAAM was the most powerful locust commander, and so the locust did nothing, and allowed the now diseased lambent RAAM to leave.
The general started walking down the scorched cave, most of it had crumbled, but he knew that a few tunnels would again appear.
"For the Queen!" He stomped off, only to take a shot to the back, and hear a sick locust roar fill his ringing ears.
"If he will not serve, we kill him!"
"No!" Another called, bringing up his lancer and cutting the former in half. "Hahaha!" This locust was cut off from his laughter by an explosien.
And a firefight broke out, one side, consisting of glowing, newly infected locust soldiers, combated gangly, mutilated beasts of the older lambent. All of the drones fired on one another, on the drudges, on the therons, on the one boomer.
RAAM, infuriated, fired into the crowd, relishing his own blood stained bullets fire into the crowd of warring beasts. Each one was cut down, smashed by a bullet, ripped apart by a series of explosives. Bodies lay smoldering, all dead but one.
RAAM walked away, spotting a smoking tunnel with a dead corsper hanging out of it. HHe was going into the inner hallows. He was going to his Myrah. She would likely smight him for failure...but she still needed a mate, and his love. The only person he could love. The only person he shared love with. Yes, he coul've led the horde, but his sudductress was more then some whore, she was meant to be queen, otherwise he woul've killed her that night.
"For my queen!"
Skorge[]
Skorge had received news. Very sad news...supposedly. He had been given the large scroll detailing a great generals life to it's very end, from being a soldier for only one year to theron, to a mighty guard, then to his queens sword and shield. This general had been a marvel to the entire horde, "the general bigger then a boomer, more fierce then a berserker, more cunning then any theron!".
And yet, he was not mourning, the queen had had himself removed from her chambers, and the other priests would remark at his stupidity for trying to mate with Myrah, but he was happy. He knew with his nemesis gone, his general, he would be by her side soon. His general was the bastard who tossed him to the side, and killed off many of the other kantus, why not take his mate.
Especially after the fight...Skorge still limped from time to time.
The fight was about to begin, kantus, therons, a few drones who had become legends themselves...and RAAM; The general was allowing challengers to take his place as Myrah's mate and the hordes commander in chief. But none had beat him yet, not even an eleven foot tall boomer, who had it's face smashed in and tossed into an imulsion pit in a matter of seconds.
Now another Kantus charged RAAM, and then two more. RAAM had never put restrictions on the fight, and these priests were undoubtedly close, and so they could "share" Myrah. Skorge really hated them
The first was cut off by a giant fist to the throat, another was ripped limb from limb, and the last...well, it put up a fight. About as much as you could against the general.
It hit him multiple times, attacking the general from each direction, clawing at his face, and jumping on his back, screeching in RAAM's eardrums. But it didn't faze the general, and Skorge thought that maybe he even rolled his eyes at him. RAAM quickly grabbed the zealot by the throat, and tossed him in front of himself.
Then RAAM roared in triumph, bringing his boot on the priests head, blood flowing onto the stone floor.
Skorge hoped, unlike the boomer and kantus, he would get to live if he failed in beating the general, just like the two theron guards, or one palace guard. Although it wouldn't matter in the end.
RAAM was a juggernaut, an unstoppable warrior that finished every fight, and always won. But now it's Skorge's turn, he was quick, above average strength, and he had already been with Myrah once, unknown to his general. If the general found out, he would kill Skorge even if the queen protested, RAAM was cold. Too cold, even for the locust.
Now RAAM was coming, his slow steady pace was a marvel, he stomped on the guts of other fallen victims, but his intentions were on SKORGE. RAAM started to steadily run, charging the priest at full force.
Skorge dodged, narrowly escaping the massive fist, wich smashed a nearby pillar in halve. RAAM roared, and took a few hits from Skorge, who was evading every punch thrown at him. RAAM wasn't even fazed, so Skorge brought his spiked wrist into the generals neck, blood splattered on the generals armor...but he was the general for a reason.
Skorge went flying from the knee to his chest, gasping on the ground. RAAM was coming...And he was mad. Thinking quick, the kantus picked up some broken prongs, and stabbed them into the general, and then ripped the first out, leaving the other in the beasts ribcage, and bashed at the legend's head.
To little avail, it was hopeless. Skorge swung twice, connecting once.
RAAM caught the prong on a third strike, and headbutted Skorge, who bent over in pain, grabbing his face. RAAM brought his knee straight into the priests chest, grabbing him by the back, chucked him against a wall. RAAM went in again, taking a light punch to the groin, but he kept going, he wasn't going to stop.
Bloodied up and hopeless, skorge was picked by the legs and flung into the center of the arena, right in front of the queen. Noo...
Skorge stood slowly, letting out one of his ear piercing screams, and then met a fist to the face, and dropped to the bloodied floor.
"Enough, RAAM."
And those were the last words he heard that day, defeated in front of his secret lover, in front of the other priests...that were left.
He'd have to work his way to the top again...but now...he just rested. His face in a bloodied pool, breathing in hot air, his skin stained by blood. He would just wait. And as he got dragged away, thankful not to have his head pulled down into his ribcage, he looked at the queen, and he knew she was disgusted, knowing he would never touch her skin again.
Or so he had thought. Now RAAM's unstoppable reign of terror had ended. And now, as high priest and the new commander in chief, he would destroy any loyalists to RAAM, push the lambent back, but keep them back, and win his former mates trust and loyalty...again.
He screamed, his screech carrying through the whole hollow, and a giant, slithering beasts head received the message as well. The words "dig" burned into it's mind. Skorge hopped aboard his mutated reaver, and directed the gigantic worm where to burrow.
Recovery[]
Several Months later...
"Nooo!" Skorge screamed as his Hydra pumped it's last heart beat, and began to plummet to the ground. The giant reaver-like creature's body flailed in the air as Delta squad shot the creature several more times, it's past the ominous in Skorge's mind. He wasn't going to live.
His mount slammed into the ground with massive force and speed, throwing the high priest far into the air, only to come crashing down in a heath of rubble and blood. Skorge seemed lifeless and limp, and thus his minions and brethren passed by without second glance' They headed for Jacinto.
High above the sky multiple "Raven" flying machines, who mopped up random locust squads, the first scouts of a massive underground army. A few of the ravens fell from enemy fire, and one came dangerously close to the priest as it came to a screeching stop, and the pilot burst from it's window in flames, slowly burning to death ten feet from Skorge. The smell of burnt flesh was a good last sense to feel, Skorge thought.
Skorge was hardly awake, and finally managed a squirm of movement, despite the horrendous amounts of pain and misery such effort caused. This was not going to be fun, for the Skorge of the horde must find a way to move, less he wished to die.
Skorge was hopeless, he continued to twitch as he tried to move and get off the ground. He tried to scream, but to no avail. Why must I die this way... He began thinking of the humans, and how he had failed and now the locust armies would drown.
"Aaaataaack!" The sudden shout came from several locust, who charged a group of Gear soldiers climbing from the crashed raven, Skorge couldn't believe they had survived.
Several grenadiers, clad in full, steel colored, bulky armor from head to toe. They were led by a huge juggernaut of a creature, the son of RAAM, Krieger. The drones and Krieger and rushed in, quickly slaughtering the gear soldiers in a heap of gunfire.
Krieger slowly walked towards the disabled Kantus, and having noticed the dead Hydra, knew it was Skorge. Krieger grabbed the kantus by the arm and heft him up, pulling his face to Skorge's.
"This one is Skorge." Krieger spoke in a metallic, rough voice. But like the Queen or some Kantus Knights, was capable of perfect English, but his voice was unmistakably locust. "We must keep him safe. He has failed. But he is our Commander." Krieger had a sort of resentment towards the kantus, but he was loyal. So much unlike RAAM, yet the facial features and size matched. This would have been the future General if not for Skorge's failure.
"Move out!" Krieger put Skorge on his back, and began at a dead run towards the main army; Both unaware of the destruction of the Horde leadership.
Thirteen Months Later
Skorge had recovered, and had replaced his chainsaw staff with a two red blades. They bore the mark of the Locust Insignia, which now meant nothing to anyone. Skorge was having trouble dealing with the loss of the Queen and the main locust army, but he moved on. He was not the priest he had been, for now he was a hunter for the Savage Locust and their chieftain, Krieger.
Krieger. His armor had dulled, but he still wore all of it, covered in head to toe in the remaining bits of strapped metal that his armor now was. Krieger was like his father, but much more intelligent, while retaining his brute strength and savage persona.
Skorge gazed around him. Nothing but trenches, sand, and rugged mountains. He looked far off in the distance, at a small forest, hardly noticeable yet it stuck out like a sore thumb. Many locust had gone there, instead, in search of an easier life. Skorge then noticed something most peculiar.
Towards the coast, a large object had risen into the sky. It was followed by a few more and then another. They looked like huge trees, with swirling branches and swinging vines. They had popped right out of the ocean...what could they be.
"What is it, Skorge." Krieger walked up behind him, putting his massive hand on the shoulder father's nemesis. They had become good friends, and Skorge even spoke around his chieftain, however rarely.
"Look." The former High Kantus Priest of the Horde's voice was raspy, creaking and choked even more than a normal kantus's voice. It was deeper, yet more thrilled.
"I will send a scouting party." The giant of a locust then walked away, his footsteps shaking the crumbled room within the trench barrack; The barrack with a hole wide enough to see the countryside through, the barrack that was close to falling from the trenches tunnels and into the river below.