Considering how vital it is to the Xbox catalog, it’s interesting how complex the story of Gears is. This isn’t a simple rescue mission, and you’re not saving the world from a cut and dried evil force. You’re a soldier under a corrupt government fighting fanged monsters that may also have a point in the long run. There are twists and turns aplenty, including some that the game’s don’t do the best job of explaining. With the newest entry right around the corner, now’s the perfect time to catch up with exactly what’s happened so far and what we expect the Gears 5 story this September. Even if you’re a lapsed fan coming back in, here’s the Gears of War story, explained.
Gears 5 Story Explained | Locust Origins
The Gears of War story takes place on Sera, a planet not dissimilar from our own. After their own traditional fuel sources ran out, the Serrans discovered Imulsion and quickly adapted it as a source of energy. With a new energy source came new borders and new sources of conflict, leading to an all-out battle between nations called The Pendulum Wars. Two coalitions rose up amidst the trouble: the Coalition of Ordered Governments and the Union of Independent Republics. The wars lasted for decades, all while the true threat developed under humanity’s noses.
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Imulsion wasn’t just a new source of fuel, it was a parasite that latched onto human hosts. In the early years of the war, miners of Imulsion came down with a disease called Rustlung. The COG shuttled victims to a secret medical facility and covered up the dangers of this sought after fuel source. Eventually, sufferers of Rustlung would develop into Sires, a type of mindless savage. The children these creatures would bear became the Locust Horde, a new society that lived under the Serran surface.
However, prolonged exposure to Imulsion would mutate beings further, turning them into the Lambent. These glowing mutants went to war with the Locust, waging a battle unseen by the humans still battling up above. Queen Myrrah of the Locust decided that her kind needed to invade the surface in order to stave off the Lambent attackers. The Queen made contact with Adam Fenix, a former soldier turned scientist who developed weapons for the COG in the Pendulum Wars. Adam started work on an anti-Lambent weapon, and the Queen promised to hold out before invading the surface.
Gears 5 Story Explained | The Emergence Day of Marcus Fenix
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Thanks to Adam Fenix’s orbital laser technology, the COG eventually win the Pendulum Wars after 79 years of conflict. The Serran people have six weeks of peace, but Queen Myrrah’s patience grew thin. The Locust Horde emerged onto the surface world in an event known as Emergence Day. The COG covered the world with their forces to take on this new threat, but their subterranean abilities proved overwhelming. The government’s only choice was to move their society to a single city built on unbreakable granite known as Jacinto.
Knowing that Sera’s entire population couldn’t live in one settlement, they sent out evacuation plans with only three days notice. Using the orbital Hammer of Dawn, they glassed the entire planet, killing a large portion of the Locust Hordes at the cost of much of human civilization. Those left alive outside of Jacinto after the attack became known as the Stranded, developing into another opposing force for the COG government.
Around 10 years into the Locust conflict, COG higher-ups discovered that Adam Fenix had arranged a deal with the Locust well before Emergence Day. Adam was to be shipped to a secret facility run by COG scientists. When COG soldier Marcus Fenix got wind of this plan, he broke rank, attacked his commanding officer and attempted to rescue his father. Because of his impulsiveness, the COG couldn’t fire the Hammer of Dawn and the Locust gained a foothold close to humanity’s last bastion. For these crimes, the COG arrests Marcus and sends him to prison. It is here where we find him at the beginning of Gears of War.
Gears 5 Story Explained | Reliving the Gears of War trilogy
With the Locust about to attack Jacinto, players take control of Marcus Fenix and attempt to stave off the hordes. Marcus joins a squad with the goal of securing lost assets and detonating a Lightmass Bomb. After battling through Gears 1, Marcus and his team detonate the bomb underground, destroying Locust tunnels and causing the extinction of the dangerous nocturnal Kryll species. While the Lightmass bomb didn’t end up killing the entirety of the Locust threat, it bought the COG enough time to organize a full-scale invasion of the Locust’s home. Marcus and his team are part of the invasion of the Hollow, which is the main story thrust of Gears of War 2.
During the invasion, Marcus discovers that the Locust planned to sink Jacinto underground and flood the underground. This would have the effect of destroying the Lambent, who were still attacking the Locust underground at this juncture. Marcus takes the initiative, evacuates Jacinto, and sinks the city to quell the invasion force. Humans flee to an island nation, but this evacuation causes the foundations of the COG to crumble.
While aboard the last remaining COG vessel, government forces tell Marcus that his father could still be alive. Furthermore, Adam Fenix could hold the key to finally destroying the invasion force once and for all. The plot of Gears of War 3 concerns Marcus venture to the secret facility where Adam performed his research. Marcus meets with Adam, who has built a Maelstrom Generator that will wipe out the Lament and the Locust. After holding off Queen Myrrah’s forces, the bomb activates, killing anything with Lambent cells. The world of Sera is finally at peace again, a calm that lasts for 25 years.
Gears 5 Story Explained | Kait Diaz vs. The Swarm
The beginning of Gears of War 4 sees Marcus’ son JD Fenix and two allies raiding a COG settlement. The old government has taken hold once again, working to repopulate the entire planet amidst the weather turmoil caused by the Maelstrom Generator. They’re assisted by DeeBees, an automated race of robots build by Marcus’ fellow soldier and major Gears side character Damon Baird. Rumors abound that some mysterious force is kidnapping humans in the night, a force eventually determined to be The Swarm. Mutated from the Locust and kidnapped humans in an unknown way, the Swarm strike back against the COG and bring two generations of Gears soldiers together.
The Swarm manages to kidnap Kait’s mother Reyna and attempt to assimilate her. JD leads a rescue mission but fails to stop the Swarm from corrupting Reyna. Kait performs a mercy killing on her mother, but not before Reyna gives her a medallion that had belonged to her mother. Said medallion bears the mark of the Locust Horde, revealing that Kait is the granddaughter of Queen Myrrah. This leads directly into the Gears 5 story, which will see the COG battling The Swarm and their corrupted DeeBee robot forces. Kait brakes away from the battle and becomes the main protagonist of this new entry. With her newfound origins discovered, looking for answers about her place in the conflict. Will she be a peaceful conduit between these two warring factions, or is it too late to foster goodwill? We’ll all have to wait until September 10 to find out.
