• “Good job, Rose. You got us in another mess.” she growled at me. I sighed as the Locust chained us up. It wasn’t fair. These stupid Cog uniforms didn’t exactly work out right, and if Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago showed up soon, we would be in so much trouble. “Figure out a plan before Marcus shows up, or we are screwed.”

    I, Rose ‘Blaze’ Rios, growled and kicked a Locust with a large boot. I fell to the ground and pulled up my Lancer, the chainsaw under it growling and revving up, black smoke from it. I sawed the Locust holding Lily ‘Cat’ Daly up and she fell to the ground. “Put your mask on and don’t call me Rose again.”

    I heard footsteps echo down the hall. I pulled my mask on and looked over at Cat, who went pale. I threw Cat a mask. Standard Cog masks, nothing special about them. Cat put on her mask and stood up next to me. I grabbed my Lancer and put it over my shoulder, strapping it to my back.

    Four Cog members came through the door. Two from Delta squad, two from Alpha squad. Cat’s knees almost buckled beneath her as she saw her long lost boyfriend look in her eyes, not knowing that it was her. If anyone found out that these two members from Foxtrot squad were women, we were surly to get executed.

    “Foxtrot?” asked Marcus. Cat didn’t reply, just began shaking uncontrollably.

    “Yes, sir. Sorry about my partner, he’s a little shaken up.” I replied quickly, afraid that I would do the same as Cat. “Private Roy Blaze, reporting for duty, sir.” I saluted him with my fake name.

    “Private Luke Cat, s-s-ir.” Cat replied with her fake name, saluting too.

    Dominic put two fingers to his ear, speaking into his transmitter. “Control, we have Foxtrot squad. Request pick up. Over.”

    “Roger, Sergeant. ETA in twenty minutes. Report west, one click from your location.”

    We began walking out of there. I met the Alpha members, Baird and Cole. But I walked a few feet behind Dom and so did Cat. She was still shaking and I nudged her with my elbow. “Calm down. Everything will be okay.” I assured her.

    Baird asked, “Why does your voice sound like a girl’s?”

    “Why does your face look like a pile of s**t?” I growled. I knew that this guy was a grade-A jerk. I smiled under my mask as everyone laughed at Baird.

    “A comedian, huh? We’ll see how long you last.” he growled back at me. I narrowed my eyes.

    “We’ll see.”

    Long story short, the Cog soldiers had to improvise. The LZ was hot and the chopper was blown to smithereens. I felt sick and woozy because of all the blood I was seeing.

    We made it safely, only taking hits in the armor. “We should go to the Stranded camp.” Dom suggested.

    “If you do, you better work your magic. You know that they’re still angry, and don’t like us Cogs.” Marcus replied.


    I never understood why the Stranded hated the Cogs, but I didn’t care to ask. I just wanted to get on with this obscured plan that Cat and I created to stay with Dom and Marcus, no matter what. I held my Lancer in my hands, ready for anything. I knew that night was creeping up on us, and that all hell would break loose.

    Dom began to talk to a man about a vehicle that the team needs. But he simply replied, “Hey Santiago. I haven’t heard any news on your girl yet. But I’ll let you know.”

    I put my Lancer over my shoulder, finger on the trigger.

    We began arguing about favors and he finally gave in, handing Dom the keys to a car. He gave him the location of the vehicle at a gas depot. “All right. Dom and I will go to the depot.” Marcus ordered. He pointed at me and Cat. “One of you, come along with us.”

    “I got this.” I whispered to Cat, putting my hand on her shoulder. She nodded and I caught up with Marcus and Dom.


    “Get out of the darkness!” Dom roared at me, shoving me out of the shadow. A Locust wasn’t so lucky. He hit the darkness and the Kryll attack, ripping him apart. I turned away as he roared in pain, blood gushing everywhere . “Stay out of the shadows, Blaze.”

    I stood up. Marcus shot a propane tank and said, “If you find a propane tank, shoot it. It gives off light.”

    “We can’t do that, the villagers need those.” Dom replied.

    “It’s either this or die.”

    Oh, perfect. I growled in my head, realizing that my mask was gone. I looked around quicky, having no luck. Then I sighed, angrily. It was blown apart by the propane tank. The mask must’ve came off when Dom shoved me out of the dark. Oh no! Oh no! I growled again. I was screwed...

    I hid behind a barrier and fired at the last Locust, killing it. “Come on, Blaze!” called Marcus, coming around the barrier. He gasped, “Rose? But that means....”

    “Yes. Cat is actually Lily.” I whispered.

    “Why did you two come? You know women are not soldiers.” Marcus asked. I stood up.

    “What did you want us to do? Let you two get killed? Waiting at home while we know that you both were getting yourself killed?” I yelled at him angrily. Dom came over, not knowing what was going on.

    “Rose?” asked a voice. I froze. I turned around and looked at him, moving my blonde hair from my face. “I can’t believe it.” he whispered.

    “Dom. I can expla-.” I was cut off short because he hugged me, almost squishing me. “Ow. Dom. Lemme go. Your flippin’ armor is killing me.”

    “Sorry. I’m glad to see you. But,” he pushed me at arms length, hands on my shoulders. “This is crazy what you’re doing. When Control finds out, your dead. You know that. Why are you here?” Tears stung my eyes and they soon started flowing. How did this happen? I was undercover, and in one swift move it was blown. “Rose?” he whispered.

    “I couldn’t sit at home knowing that you were getting killed. We both couldn’t. I…I love you, Dom.” I cried. He frowned, eyes going soft. He hugged me again, whispering: “I love you, too.”