An inside look at the Gears of War backstory

An inside look at Gears of War titled “Destroyed Beauty” was just
revealed to show the storyline of the Xbox 360 exclusive from Epic
Games. Written by Cliff Bleszinski, Jerry O’Flaherty, and Eric Nylund.
Here’s the backstory:



Sera:

Sera has endured millenia of conflict, teetering on the brink of a world war that guaranteed Armageddon.

Humanity pulled back from this act of self-destruction and evolved
into something nobler. For a time, the hush of peace blanketed the land.

There were still problems: skirmishes, crime, debates over liberties,
and a demand for energy that outstripped Sera’s reserves of petroleum
and nuclear fuels.

There was, however, hope.

Sera’s cities became sparkling examples for future generations that this was a new Golden Age.

… or so we all thought.



Imulsion:

Discovered by an oil-exploration drill, Imulsion is a phosphorescing,
low-viscosity fluid that was only a scientific curiosity until Dr.
Helen Cooper invented the Lightmass Process.

The Lightmass Process converts a portion of Imulsion mass directly into energy.

It was the perfect solution for an energy-hungry world.

The few nations lucky to have Imulsion reserves suddenly found themselves the owner of cheap, limitless fuel.

… and the envy of other less-fortunate nations on Sera.



The Pendulum Wars:

Hydrocarbon energy was ultimately abandoned in favor of Imulsion.

Soon thereafter the world economy crashed due to rampant Imulsion
speculation, and, as expected, humanity reasserted its true nature.
Under the guise of thinly veiled politics, Imulsion-poor nations
attacked those with abundant reserves.

For seventy-nine years, nations battled one another for possession of the miraculous energy source.





Emergence Day:

As humanity fought on the surface of Sera, a new enemy, the Locust,
gathered underground and launched an attack unimagined in our worst
nightmares.

On this “Emergence Day” humans ceased fighting one another … they had
to. Within twenty-four hours, one quarter of the human population
perished in the Locust onslaught.

Human forces rallied, but divided by decades of fighting in the Pendulum Wars, it was too little, too late.

The Locust captured most urban, military, and manufacturing centers.

To deny our enemies this overwhelming advantage, humans did the unthinkable.



Scorched Earth:

Human forces fell back to Jacinto Plateau, a geological region of solid granite the Locust could not penetrate.

From this haven, human leaders unleashed chemical and orbital-beam weapons that burned the enemy …



… along with the Locust-occupied cities,

… and the civilians who could not evacuate.

Humans won the E-Day invasion, but 90% of Sera’s surface was left a wasteland.

The Locust, secure in their underground warrens, survived.



Jacinto:

The hush of death settled over Sera.

While the Locust’s digging machines could not penetrate the granite
substrata of Jacinto Plateau, there were natural fissures and utility
systems riddling the rock. Human leaders sealed these passages or
flooded them with nerve gas.

The surviving military then fortified what had once been Sera’s most
beautiful cities transforming shining symbols of hope into desperate
reminders that peace was fragile.

We know it is only a matter of time …



Our last stand.

Humanity has been backed into a corner … although some might say that we painted ourselves into this spot.

If we hadn’t fought each other so hard for so long, would we have
been better prepared to face the Locust Horde? Would the nightmares that
boiled out of ground on Emergence Day have faced a strong, united
mankind?

… Or would we have all been killed that day if we hadn’t been hardened by decades of conflict?

Funny that it took our near-extinction to get us to fight together as brothers.

So, there’s hope that we might have learned something, after all.

I just hope it wasn’t too late.

(Journal entry found on COG GEAR / Morgue Ref No.: 086330-KX)



Who are the COG?

Long before the Pendulum Wars, the Coalition of Ordered Governments
(COG) existed only as an obscure world-government philosophy in the mind
of the fanatic socialist, Alexiy Desipich. Its austere canon was based
on eight guiding values: order, diligence, purity, labor, honor,
loyalty, faith, and humility.

As the Pendulum Wars continued, however, the COG grew into a legitimate, albeit a minor, political party.

After Emergence Day, COG leaders were the only ones willing to take
the necessary steps to survive the epic devastation. They ratified the
Fortification Act, which established martial law and transformed Jacinto
Plateau into an unassailable fortress.

The COG’s methods proved wildly popular, despite the fact that they
temporarily abridged civil rights. Only under the protection of the COG
will humanity prevail.





What are the Locust?

We don’t know what they are …

Most scientists believe they’re a mutated version of Sera’s native
life forms. A minority claim they’re aliens. Ask any Gear and they’ll
tell you the Locust come straight form hell.

We know they live underground. How and exactly where are impossible
to determine, however, because the cavern systems in Sera’s mantle are,
for all practical purposes, endless. As a result of dwelling in
perpetual darkness, they have an aversion to light … one of our few
advantages.

All attempts at negotiating with the Locust have failed, and all overtures of peace have been answered with violence.

The only conclusion we can draw from their actions is that they want every last man, woman, and child dead.

Gears of War will be available in America on November 12 and in Europe on November 17. More artbook pics here.