Gears of War: Ascendance Read online

  Contents

  Cover

  Gears of War novels from Titan Books:

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Act 1

  1: An Invitation

  2: A Different Kind of Horizon

  3: Bad Memories

  4: Bygones

  5: The Gilded Cage

  6: Secret Doors

  7: A Parting of Ways

  8: Daybreak

  Act 2

  1: Beyond the Ruins

  2: The Mission

  3: Middle of the Road

  4: Crater’s Edge

  5: The Mountain Road

  6: Long Way Down

  7: Reunited

  8: Old Stories

  9: Old Gear

  10: Knocking on the Door

  11: Tunnel Rats

  12: A Difference of Opinion

  Act 3

  1: Singing a Duet

  2: Familiar Faces

  3: Remote Possibility

  4: Everything on the Table

  5: The End of the Rope

  6: Bright Ideas

  7: Shelter from the Swarm

  8: Breakfast With Friends

  9: Bonfire

  10: Tools of the Trade

  11: Through the Fire

  12: Moonlight and Flame

  13: Far to the North

  14: The Coming Storm

  Epilogue: Morning Star

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  Gears of War novels from Titan Books:

  Gears of War: Ascendance by Jason M. Hough

  TITAN BOOKS

  Print edition ISBN: 9781789092615

  E-book edition ISBN: 9781789092684

  Published by Titan Books

  A division of Titan Publishing Group Ltd

  144 Southwark Street, London SE1 0UP

  www.titanbooks.com

  First edition: July 2019

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Editorial Consultants: Rod Fergusson, Bonnie Jean Mah

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  © 2019 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Microsoft, the Crimson Omen logo, Gears of War, Marcus Fenix, The Coalition, and The Coalition logo are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.

  www.gearsofwar.com

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

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  TITANBOOKS.COM

  For all the hardworking and talented people

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  passionate fans who support and inspire them.

  1: AN INVITATION

  The rock in her hand wasn’t much more than a pebble, yet it felt like it carried the weight of the world.

  Kait Diaz held the stone in her palm, felt its grit and pores. It had been cleaved in half at some point—when or where was anyone’s guess. Maybe in yesterday’s battle, maybe a million years ago when a boulder rolled loose down this forsaken hillside. Whatever. It had once been part of something larger, but now it was a separate thing.

  “Alone. Like me.”

  Kait whispered the words so the others wouldn’t hear.

  She glanced up and studied the pile of rocks that blocked the cave mouth. Even with help it had taken her the better part of a day, building it up, sealing what would soon be her mother’s tomb. Just one small opening left. A little window into the darkness. Once she put the rock in place, that would be that. Reyna Diaz would be gone. No light would ever shine on her again.

  At the edges of Kait’s mind swam memories of her childhood, but for now at least she kept them firmly in that blurred periphery. Later, perhaps, she’d be ready. But not now.

  She lifted the small stone and forced it into the gap. Her hand lingered, covering the spot.

  It’s over, she thought, but she knew that wasn’t really true. Reyna would always be a part of her, and she might have found a lifetime of wisdom and comfort in that, if not for the amulet around her neck. The heirloom, the one last thing Mom had given her…

  That had really muddied the goddamn waters.

  JD and Del approached. They stood on either side of her and each rested a palm on the barrier wall, mimicking her stance.

  “She’ll be missed,” JD said.

  “Hell yeah, she will,” Del added. “Her and Oscar both. Everyone else those creatures took—”

  “Just… stop,” Kait said. She let her hand fall from the rocks and turned her back on the burial site. “I can’t… this is all I can do for now, okay? Let’s get the hell out of here.”

  The two soldiers looked at each other, then nodded in unison. She moved and they parted a little to give her some space.

  Seated just a short distance away were JD’s father Marcus Fenix, Damon Baird, Sam Byrne, and Augustus Cole. Not one of them had ever met Reyna, but now that Kait moved away from the wall—a wall they’d spent all night helping her build—each of them took their turn to place a hand on the surface and say a silent goodbye.

  Kait left them to it. Anyone else and she might have doubted their sincerity, but not this group. Friends of Reyna or not, they’d all fought at Kait’s side against the Swarm, and helped her get here in time to say goodbye. She had that at least, and these people had made it possible. For that she would owe them, always.

  Some silent agreement passed through the group then—the sort that existed between people who had fought together as they had. Sam kicked dirt over the ashes of their small campfire. Gear was checked and packed. The few extra clips of ammo they carried were divided up and a canteen passed around. They didn’t have much left. No one had expected to be stuck out here.

  Cole looked to Marcus. “Where to?”

  “I’m not in charge,” Marcus replied.

  Cole shrugged. “You’re always in charge. Even when you’re outranked.”

  The old soldier shook his head. “We did what we came here to do. Thought I might head home.”

  Del couldn’t help himself. “Your home’s a smoldering ruin.”

  “Maybe so, but it’s still home,” Marcus growled.

  “If there’s even one wall left standing, I’d be shocked.”

  Marcus eyed the young man. “And whose fault is that?”

  “Whoa, whoa. Relax.” JD stepped in between them. “No need to get into whose fault it was.”

  “Easy for you to say,” Del replied, “since it was really your fault.”

  Marcus grunted. For a moment he regarded Del and his son, then turned back to the larger group.

  “Let Baird decide.”

  “Me?” Baird asked. “That’d be like the blind leading the sighted. I don’t know this area at all. Look, we need to find a working comms tower. Do that, and I can get a bird to come pick us up.”

  At this Kait decided to speak up.

  “I might know a pla
ce.”

  They all turned to her.

  “It’s a bit of a hike, and I’m not sure about comms, but there’s supplies. Food maybe.”

  “Food, huh?” Cole eyed her. “I like the sound of that. Is it on a desolate hillside surrounded by nasty murderous baddies?”

  “No, it’s—”

  “Good enough for the Cole Train, then,” he said. “Lead the way.”

  * * *

  Each step she took brought a little relief. Distance had a way of doing that, she supposed.

  She’d barely slept. Last night a nightmare full of teeth and claws and tentacles, ending with a glowing mouth and that Speaker’s voice, had sent her bolt upright and drenched in sweat. Kait had set to work right then and there on the rock wall that would entomb her mother, and the noise of her efforts had woken the others. Within minutes they were all pitching in to help, not a word passing between them, and they’d kept on until the job was done.

  By midday they were out of the hills and on to a wide grassy plain, the sun pounding down on their necks. The air vibrated with the sounds of wildlife—buzzing, chirping, and the occasional rustle as something hightailed it out of their path. The tall grass, up to Kait’s shoulders, felt like a thousand caressing fingers trying to pull her down into the earth to sleep. Kait found it harder and harder to focus, her vision blurring from exhaustion.

  “You okay?”

  She glanced around, willing the fog from her mind. JD and Del had come up beside her. It was Del who had spoken, but their faces bore the same expression. Concern. Worry.

  “You really want me to answer that?” she asked, instantly regretting her tone, and having pushed them away earlier. They meant well, she knew.

  Her friend grimaced and looked away. “I guess not. Just… look, we’re here for you, alright?”

  “Anything you need,” JD added.

  Kait couldn’t keep the smile from her face, but it was only half formed, struggling to break through the grief just like she was. “Thanks, guys. I mean it. Right now I just need some time. Can you give me that?”

  The two men nodded and fell back again. A few steps at first, then farther as the march went on.

  When the swamp came into view it was almost a relief.

  “Uh, we’re going in there?” Cole said. “I take back my comment about desolate hillsides.”

  “Scared, Cole?” Marcus asked.

  “Naw, man, just, you know, hoping for a little R&R after the recent unpleasantness. That… don’t look too relaxing.”

  “The man’s got a point,” Samantha put in.

  All at once the field around them went dead quiet, leaving only the wind that sent waves through the tall grass. Birds, insects… it all just stopped. Kait felt a cool tingle run up her spine and down her arms.

  From somewhere behind them came a high-pitched yelp.

  Then another, then more.

  “Something tells me R&R isn’t in our future,” JD muttered. They all turned around, and instinctively started to spread apart and form a defensive line.

  Alert again, Kait watched the horizon, glancing down only to verify the ammo reading on her Lancer. It was a customized model, pilfered from Marcus Fenix’s estate as the walls literally fell in around them. The sixty-round clip was less than half full. When her gaze returned to the undulating field she saw movement at the edges.

  The grass was parting, as if invisible objects raced toward them across the surface. Then something gray and mottled bobbed above the grass and, for one ugly instant, seemed to make eye contact with her before dropping back below. Those eyes were white and seemed sightless.

  “Juvies!” she shouted. “From the left!”

  “And the right!” JD added, already moving in that direction. Del followed him and Kait felt a strong pull to stick with them. Fighting beside them felt natural somehow, like an instinct rather than a conscious choice. As Del once put it, they were simply on the same wavelength.

  But she was on the wrong side, nearer to Cole and Marcus. The two veterans moved off left, keeping low in the grass. With no cover here, fanning out was the only option. Kait suddenly found herself in a position to either flank left, or stay in the middle where Baird and his “special lady-friend” Sam stood like wind ranchers preparing to defend their last mill. Sam had a beat-up old Gnasher shotgun resting on her forearm. Baird’s weapon was larger, held low. Kait knew that everyone was perilously low on ammo.

  Baird braced the weapon against his hip, and Kait recognized it as the aptly named Buzzkill.

  “Been looking for an excuse to try this thing,” he said to no one in particular. “Time to level the playing field.”

  “Quit yapping and do it,” Sam said.

  Kait moved back a few steps, a grin curling at the corner of her mouth as Damon Baird let loose.

  There came a whirring whoosh as the blade flew out and scythed through the tall grass, which fell in a line straight out from Baird, cut almost exactly in half. Somewhere off in the distance a Juvie yelped. The bow-shock “V” it made came to an abrupt end.

  Pleased, Baird kept firing. In front of him a pattern began to form like a fan—lines in the grass the width of the circular Buzzkill blades, spreading in an arc extending perhaps a hundred yards out. Two more Juvies fell from the salvo, but that wasn’t the point, Kait now realized. Baird had created pockets of low grass the Juvies had to run through, revealing themselves in small, naked glimpses that made targeting far easier.

  She braced herself and opened fire. Short bursts, the weapon rattling against her armpit each time. One of the scrawny creatures went ass-over-teakettle, limbs flailing. The other just dove lifelessly forward, vanishing into the grass.

  From right and left came the bark and thrum of gunfire. Everyone took advantage of Baird’s cleared lines to sight from a distance. A few of the creatures managed to get close, only to taste the wrath of Sam’s Gnasher. Turning, Kait shielded her eyes to see how JD and Del were faring. Her friends were side by side, their expressions calm and focused.

  “More incoming!” Marcus shouted. “Following the paths, disguising their numbers!”

  And he was right. It was more intelligence than the little monsters had shown before, but then Kait had never faced them in such a wide, empty space as this. A second wave came rushing forward, not far behind the first, staying low and using the already-trampled grass to their advantage.

  The Buzzkill made a sound that told her it was empty. Baird threw it to the ground and drew a Boltok pistol, wielding it with two hands.

  “We don’t have the ammo for this,” Sam said to her man. “Plan B?”

  “Melee?” Baird offered. “Sticks and fucking stones?”

  Off to Kait’s left, Cole grunted a laugh. He slung his Lancer and drew a long hunting knife.

  “Trading a chainsaw for a knife, huh?” Kait said.

  “Close combat, multiple enemies. Speed is better,” Cole replied. “They wanna dance, I’ll dance, unless someone’s got a better idea. Outta ammo here.”

  Kait had five rounds left.

  Then four.

  Three.

  For each Juvie she took down, three more seemed to stream in behind it. Fatigue started to grip her again. Where she’d been sweating before, now she was drenched.

  “Guys? There’s a lot of them,” JD said.

  “The swamp,” Kait shouted. “Now!”

  Part of her expected them to scoff at this idea. Not JD and Del, but maybe Cole or Baird, whom she barely knew. Retreat, even of the temporary variety, wasn’t part of a soldier’s vocabulary—at least not in her experience. This group, though, was seasoned. Practical. The “win by any means” variety that reminded her of Mom.

  So instead of arguing they began to move. First a backward walk by those who still had ammo, then a full-on sprint by the whole party as their guns neared empty.

  Kait reached the trees first. They were decrepit things, branches drooping and leafless, covered in gray fungus. The smooth grass plain gave
way to undulating ground, stagnant water filling every low spot. White reeds poked up from the deeper pools, like bony fingers reaching out from so many graves. No grass to hide the Juvies here, though, and the trees provided solid cover. Kait positioned herself behind the first one with a thick trunk, turned, and aimed.

  JD and Del were close behind. For a second they appeared to be in a footrace, which if true would not have surprised her. They bolted past and found their own trunks to hunker behind.

  Ten paces behind them came Sam, a faster sprinter than Baird, whose pace seemed to be flagging. Still, he made it. The couple moved even farther into the trees, splashing as they went. Neither, it seemed, had a bullet left to fire.

  Kait turned back and squinted, waiting for Marcus and Cole. Neither emerged from the grass, though. Another sound began.

  “Dad, c’mon!” JD shouted.

  Kait held up a hand for quiet. She strained, hearing yelping Juvies and, there, just below the chorus, the dueling growl of two chainsaws.

  Marcus emerged from the grass first, still facing back toward the enemy. He swung his Lancer hard to one side just as a Juvie pounced at him. It was a grotesque, naked parody of the human who had died to create it. Blood and gore sprayed in an arc as the motorized saw cut through the scrawny creature. It fell in two neat halves to either side of Marcus. He stepped back and just had time to heave the weapon back the other way as another Juvie hurled itself toward him.

  This one lost an arm and half its head for the effort.

  The swing had Marcus twisted to one side. He never saw the third Juvie emerge from the grass. Instead of leaping toward his head, this one went low, diving to its shoulder and rolling into Marcus’s calves. The veteran went down, splashing in the blood of his first kill.

  Kait raised her rifle and took aim, but the fight became a tangle of limbs. She tossed the weapon to the ground and raced forward, drawing Reyna’s broken-tipped machete as she went. Three long strides and she was there. Marcus saw her from the corner of his eye and kicked upward with both legs, sending the Juvie flying off and up into the air. Kait leaned into a slide, raised the knife, and sliced through the creature’s gut as it twisted around above her. Hot blood sprayed across her face. She gagged as she turned her slide into a clumsy roll.