Drew Rossi

Drew Rossi
Biographical information
Homeland	Unknown
Date of birth	Unknown; Before Emergence Day
Physical description and appearance
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Chronological and personal information
Rank(s)	Sergeant
Era(s)	Locust War Lambent Invasion
Notable Facts	Squad leader of Echo Squad Second-in-command of the Pelruan Garrison
Weapons	Lancer Assault Rifle
Equipment	Goggles Notepad
Vehicles	Armadillo Packhorse Rat bike
Affiliation	Coalition of Ordered Governments

"Have you got control of the shutter?"
"Sphincters-no. Shutter-yes."

—Sgt.Marcus Fenix and Sgt.Drew Rossi during the Ambush at Sovereigns Boulevard

Sergeant Drew Rossi was a Gear soldier and the squad leader of Echo Squad. After the Coalition of Ordered Governments moved to Vectes, Rossi was second-in-command of the garrison in Pelruan, serving under the command of Lt.Anya Stroud. He fought in many battles during the Locust War, Stranded Insurgency, and the Lambent Invasion. When the COG collapsed, Rossi and his squad accompanied Col.Victor Hoffman, Sgt.Bernadette Mataki, several other Gears, and several thousand civilians to Anvil Gate.

Biography

Locust War

Losing His Girlfriend

Nine or ten years after Emergence Day, Rossi's girlfriend was killed ina Locust attack. Rossi was eventually able to move on and begin dating again.

Ambush at Sovereigns Boulevard

"Delta, you took your frigging time."

—Rossi, when Delta-One shows up several minutes after he called for backup

One week after the Lightmass Offensive, Rossi and his squad went on patrol in Jacinto City. They came under attack on Sovereigns Boulevard by Locust Drones led by a large Boomer. He and his squad took cover in a shopping mall, but were pinned down. They managed to close the shutters leading into the mall, cutting off the Boomer and several Drones, but some Locust managed to get inside. One member of his squad, Pvt.Harrie was killed, and another, Pvt.David, was wounded, and the Boomer began beating on the shutter, attempting to knock it down. Rossi called for backup, and when Delta-One arrived, he informed Sgt.Marcus Fenix that they were down two squad members and that he had taken his time to get there. Marcus came up with a plan to kill the Boomer, and ordered Rossi to raise the shutters leading into the mall so he and Cpl.Dominic Santiago could kill it by dropping on top of it. Rossi was skeptical of Marcus's plan, but Marcus convinced him it would work. Rossi raised the shutters when Marcus told him to, and Marcus and Dom succeeded in killing the Boomer. Rossi and the other Gears finished off the last of the Locust, and Rossi called for a casevac for David. He told Delta that someone needed to collect Harries's Lancer, but he was reluctant to leave David's side. He and the other Gear from his squad carried David out to wait for the King Raven, and Dom volunteered to get it while Rossi stayed with David, which Rossi thanked him for.

Sinking of Jacinto

"Sorry, no joy. But they were the last ones out. No word from Jace, either. Or Mataki."

—Rossi, after Marcus asked him if he had heard from any of the command staff

Five months later, when the Coalition of Ordered Governments began evacuating Jacinto shortly after Operation: Hollow Storm in preparation to sink the city in order to flood the Hollow, Rossi and his squad assisted in the evacuation. After the comms were restored, Rossi was contacted by Cpl.Damon Baird, who passed him on to Marcus. Marcus asked him if he had heard anything from control or any of the rest of the command staff, Rossi told him he hadn't, but that they had been the last ones out. He also told Marcus that he had heard nothing about Cpl.Jace Stratton or Sgt.Bernadette Mataki either.

Vectes and the Stranded Insurgency

Rebuilding on Vectes

"Oh look - they've sent Hoffman's big boys to check up on us."

—Rossi, when Delta-One arrived at Pelruan

Several months after the Sinking of Jacinto, the COG relocated to the island of Vectes. Rossi and his squad were stationed in the town of Pelruan, and were rostered to do the day patrol. When Delta arrived in the town as extra reassurance to the citizens, they found Rossi talking with several of the locals outside the town hall. When he spotted them, Rossi came over joked that Hoffman had sent the big boys to check up on him. Pvt.Augustus Cole said that they were there to make the place look pretty, and Rossi told him that while he and his men might not be pretty, they hadn't let any houses burn down on their watch. Marcus noted that nobody seemed to be rioting over recent developments, and Rossi told him that they were confused about what to riot about: the COG moving in, or the fact that they had invited Gorasni to join them. Dom said that Chairman Richard Prescott should have told them about that in person, but Rossi doubted it would have made any difference, and asked Delta had come down to Pelruan anyway. Marcus told him they were there for reassurance, and Rossi asked if it was for the Pelruan citizens or theirs. Marcus didn't know, and sent Delta on patrols around the town. A few weeks later, Rossi and Sgt.Rory Andresen finished outfitting the sergeants mess at Vectes Naval Base and invited all off-duty Gears, including Hoffman, to an opening party. Rossi was joking and laughing along with the rest of the Gears until Marcus interrupted with a report that Stranded had attacked Merris Farm, which quickly killed the mood as most of the Gears rushed to get their gear and responded to the attack.

Battle of Vectes

"Rossi here. Where do you want us?"

—Rossi, asking for orders from Lt.Anya Stroud

Several weeks later, the COG had entered into a war with the Stranded Insurgents on the island. Rossi and his squad were on patrol when Lt.Donneld Mathieson contacted him and sent them to assist Lt.Anya Stroud, Sgt.Bernadette Mataki, and Pvt.Samantha Byrne in ambushing several Insurgents that had set up a roadside bomb. Anya directed Rossi into a position to cut off the Stranded's retreat from the north and west. Rossi got his squad into position, but Anya and Bernie were unable to make it to the ambush because their Packhorse was damaged by a roadside bomb. However, the Stranded got away before they could ambush them. Shortly afterwords, the Stranded launched their own ambushes and set off more bombs, one of which killed Andresen, with whom Rossi had built the bar.

Lambent Invasion

"That's what freaks me out more than anything. Grubs- you knew they could think. But these things- they're just animals. Or plants even, like the damn stalks. What's driving them? What do they want? They're not even eating us."

—Rossi, reflecting on the nature of the Lambent

Learning of the Lambent

"Sir, is it true? Is it Lambent?"

—Rossi, asking Hoffman if the reports he received from the trawler fleet were correct

Rossi was given command of the Gear detachment in Pelruan, where he later heard from the trawler fleet about the destruction of the Coral Star by Lambent. He met with Col.Victor Hoffman and Anya when they arrived in the town, along with the Mayor, Lewis Gavriel, and his deputy, William Berenz, asking if what the trawler fleet had reported was true. Hoffman confirmed that it was, which horrified Rossi. Hoffman asked him how the Pelruan townspeople were taking the news, and Rossi told him that they confused and scared, and didn't really understand what they were. He led Hoffman to where Gavriel and Berenz were waiting with a large crowd, and Rossi watched as Hoffman explained what they knew to the citizens, and was promised more Gears for the towns defense. Anya replaced Rossi as the commander of the town's garrison, in order to comfort the citizens with somebody they knew being in charge.

Battle of the Emerald Spar Platform

"Running out of targets. Everyone okay?"

—Rossi, after the first Stalk attacking the platform was destroyed

A few days later, Lambent Stalks carrying Polyps were spotted heading towards the Emerald Spar Imulsion Platform. Rossi was selected by Hoffman to be one of the twenty Gears that went to the platform to defend it from the Lambent. KR-239 managed to destroy the Stalk that attached itself to the platform, and Rossi reported to Marcus that his squad had run out of targets, and asked the other Gears if everyone was okay. However, another Stalk attacked the platform, and poured more Polyps onboard. The new wave of Polyps overwhelmed the platform, and Rossi and the rest of the defenders were forced to abandon it. They escaped on an evacuation boat, and the platform was destroyed.

Preparing for Battle

"A faraway island's a great idea until somebody finds it, isn't it?"

—Rossi, as the COG waits for the Lambent to attack Vectes

After the battle, Rossi and his squad began fortifying Pelruan, putting up razor wire and digging ditches, as well as setting up an observation post on the towns’ western cliffs. Rossi also helped Anya settle into commanding the town garrison, giving her advice and helping her gain experience commanding. One night, Bernie and Sam arrived in the town, after a Lambent Leviathan was spotted approaching VNB. Rossi was monitoring the radio in the signals office when they arrived and he remarked that hiding on a isolated island seemed like a great plan until somebody found it. Bernie remarked that he should join Cpl.Damon Baird's moral committee. He asked what brought them to Pelruan, and Sam told him they had been banished to the "soft option" along with the rest of the girls. Rossi understood, and told them that no stalks had been spotted yet, and the biggest challenge they were facing was getting the fishermen to pull their boats in and stay inside. Bernie said that since the Lambent might be about and with the Stranded now on the island as "allies", he would probably want them out patrolling. Rossi agreed, and then told her not to be worried about being sent to Pelruan, and if things had been the other way around, she would have sent Col.Victor Hoffman, who she was in a relationship with, down to safety as well.

Battle of Pelruan

"Ahh fuck. Lieutenant, we have to sink that leviathan before it lands more polyps."

—Rossi, to Anya after the leviathan destroys KR Three-Three

Soon after, Sam contacted him and reported an Lambent Leviathan releasing Polyps into the area around the harbor. Rossi informed Anya, and they, along with three other Gears and several locals, hurried to assist Sam and Bernie. They fought off the initial wave of Polyps, but KR Three-Three was destroyed by the Leviathan when it shot Polyps at it. Rossi and the others were shocked by this, and he told Anya they needed to find some way to destroy the Leviathan before it landed more Polyps. Since they had time to take a breather, Rossi and Bernie began dividing ammo up between the squads. Anya wondered if they should evacuate the town, but Rossi told her that civilians wouldn't want to leave, but that it couldn't hurt to ask them. When Rossi learned they were being sent Gorasni troops as reinforcements, he knew that they would not mix well with the local defenders, and told Anya she was going to get a great chance to hone her frontline skills. When one of the Gears in his squad spotted the Lambent Leviathan approaching the harbor, Rossi ordered the Gear to fall back to the town. As the battle progressed, Rossi took several cuts from the exploding Polyps and headed to get an Armadillo onto the battlefield after stopping by the first-aid station. While heading to the Armadillo, he ran into Bernie, who had been getting her Packhorse. He told her that one of his squad, Anton Silber, had been wounded, and that one of the local veterans had stopped the bleeding, but he was likely to lose his leg and needed Dr.Isabel Hayman to take a look at him. Rossi also complimented Bernie on her handling of Cpl.Frederic Benten, a retired Gear who had fallen out of the combat line and refused to fight alongside the Gorasni until Bernie convinced him to go back. Bernie was upset that she had had to threaten Benten, but Rossi reminded her that it was her duty as a Sergeant to have done that. Eventually, KR-239 killed the Leviathan, and the rest of the Polyps were killed. Rossi drove around the town once to make sure it was clear, and then returned to the garrison and drew up duty rosters. He then sent Bernie and Sam off to get some sleep.

Vectes Under Siege

"It's a small island until you try to patrol every square meter. Then it's big."

—Rossi, discussing with the others about how hard it would be to track the contaminated areas

Several weeks later, a stalk emerged in the middle of Vectes and released polyps. Delta-One was able to kill by polyps, but the threat of stalks being able to emerge anywhere caused Anya to order Rossi to organize lookouts of the local area. He got several civilian volunteers who knew the land better than his men to help with this. A few days later, Marcus discovered a field of Imulsion near where another stalk had emerged. Rossi joined Anya in going over a map of the area where it had been found, and they were soon joined by Bernie. Rossi was excited by the find, and couldn't believe Marcus' luck in finding it. Anya wasn't as pleased as he was, worrying about the nearby stalks and how that would make drilling for the Imulsion difficult. Their discussion was interrupted when KR Eight-Zero flew over the city, and Major Gill Gettner told them they had a situation, and to prepare to transmit recon images to VNB. Rossi remarked that Gettner must be in a hurry, since landing at Pelruan only saved her fifteen or twenty minutes. They saw the Raven land in the middle of town, not at the landing site, and ran through the alleyways to meet the crew. Lt.Nat Barber, Cpl.Damon Baird, and Pvt.Augustus Cole rushed out to meet them, and Barber informed them that a contaminated zone had been discovered twenty klicks from Pelruan, but there were no stalks there causing the contamination. Rossi was depressed by this news, and stayed with Bernie, Cole, and Baird as Anya and Barber went into the signals office to send the information to VNB. Cole said that the entire infected area was dead, and Bernie wondered how they were going to track the contamination if they couldn't see the stalks. Rossi remarked that they likely wouldn't be able to find all the infected areas, since it would take forever to inspect every meter of the island. Cole said finding the areas wouldn't do any good if they couldn't stop them, and Anya emerged from the signals office saying that Chairman Richard Prescott wanted them to collect samples from the contaminated area. Bernie remarked that they didn't have anybody who could analyze the stuff, and Anya said that Dr.Hayman could look at it. Rossi pointed out that she wasn't a biologist, but Anya stopped the discussion, saying that they knew what they couldn't do, so they needed to get to work on what they could do. She ordered Rossi to plot the contaminated zones on a map and work out who needed to get evacuated, while she would take the others to retrieve samples from the dead zone. After Hoffman learned about the contaminated zone, he contacted Rossi, and he filled Hoffman in on what they knew and that Prescott had wanted samples.

Preparing to Evacuate Pelruan

"Can't say I blame them. What if they evacuate and the brown stuff doesn't get here?"

—Rossi to Dom, while watching several civilians refuse to evacuate from Pelruan

Several days later, Rossi monitored the progress of the dead zone from a hill outside of Pelruan with Dom. He checked his calculations in his notepad, and told Dom that they couldn't plan anything on a timetable with the dead zone, since its spread kept speeding up and slowing down. Dom said he was planning for the worst, and so was Hoffman, but Rossi told him that he thought that it would miss the town. Dom remarked that it would still cut the town off from the rest of the island, to which Rossi responded that it was just dead vegetation, not a mountain range. Dom wondered what would happen if the Pelruan citizens didn't elect to leave during the COG's voluntary evacuation of the town. Rossi said that the citizens could stay if they wanted to, but knew that the COG couldn't promise to defend them. They began walking back into town, and Dom asked him who he was seeing in town, since he had that certain look on his face. Rossi told him the math was on his and his squads’ side in Pelruan, since there were a lot more women there, and they liked a man in uniform. Dom told him to be careful of the local men, jokingly reminding him that they knew how to castrate cattle. As they passed by a store, Rossi saw Mrs.Daws, who told him that she had his cheese ready, which was in thanks for fixing her store's generator. Rossi happily accepted the cheese and thanked her, and as they walked away, Dom asked if that had been for "services rendered". Rossi told him about fixing the generator, and said that her husband was too big and ill-tempered to risk trying anything, and that Mrs.Daws was also trying to clear out excess food before evacuating from the town. When they reached site of the town hall, they saw Anya and Marcus talking to several civilians who were refusing to evacuate. Rossi said he couldn't blame them, since they had no idea if the contamination would even reach the town. Dom said that if it did, they would expect the COG to save them even thought they had been warned, but Rossi pointed out that they never asked the COG to come to Vectes. They heard Marcus telling people that they weren't going to force anyone to evacuate yet, and one of the civilians, Miriam, told Marcus that they couldn't live in tents at VNB. Rossi stopped her, and said that there was plenty of room in VNB for everyone, and that SSgt.Lennard Parry said they could easily dismantle the houses and move them to the base. Miriam asked how long that would take, and if they had enough time to do that, why would they ask them to evacuate. Anya said that they had no idea what the contamination would do next so they were just taking precautions. Miriam said that she would stay put then, and the other civilians agreed with her.

Return to VNB

"It's all quiet. Just a couple of glowies overnight. I hope you brought your knitting."

—Rossi, talking with Baird as they handed over patrol of the Vectes Imulsion Field

Later that day, more than twenty stalks emerged near the Edlar Farm, which was just southeast of Pelruan. The polyps they released were defeated, but the fields there were set on fire and smoke was blown into Pelruan. Hoffman made the decision to evacuate Pelruan whether everyone wanted to or not, and Rossi and Anya began organizing the townspeople to be moved. They met with a large crowd of civilians by the towns Pendulum Wars memorial and attempted to keep them calm about the upcoming evacuation. The civilians were complaining about two hours not being long enough to take their possessions. Hoffman arrived with Hayman, and told the townspeople that they needed to be sensible and take only what they needed, since they could come back for more personal possessions later. Hayman asked for anyone who had inhaled smoke to meet her for treatment in the town hall, and Rossi escorted her through the streets to the town hall. After his squad was transferred back to VNB after the evacuation, Rossi went out drinking with Sam and CPO Frank Muller. He drank too much of Pvt.Dizzy Wallin's potato hooch and began asking Sam to give him a tattoo. She put a cross-eyed death's-head tattoo with something embarrassing in the eyes on his arm and put bandages over it. When he took off the bandages the next day, Rossi was horrified by what was there. He talked with Frank, who told him that he had been really drunk and asked Sam to do it, but Rossi was determined to get it fixed before too many people saw it. Several days later, Rossi and Lang were on guard duty at the Vectes Imulsion Field during the night shift, killing a few glowies that got close to the field during the night. In the morning, Rossi and Lang got in their Packhorse and began leaving the field, passing by Baird and Cole as they came in to take the next shift. They stopped and chatted for a moment, and Rossi told him that it was a really boring duty before driving back to VNB. Two days later, Rossi and his squad worked security outside of the Admiralty House after the civilian population learned of recon missions back to the mainland and more Lambent stalks emerged in several different areas of Vectes. He told Cpl.Rivera that the crowd was getting tense and sent him to inform the command staff.

Prescott's Departure

"I hope we're not having a whip-round to buy him a going-away present, sir. I didn't even get to sign his card."

—Rossi, joking to Hoffman about Prescott's departure

Two days later, Rossi was eating lunch with Bernie in the sergeant’s mess, showing her the tattoo that Sam had given him, and told her that he really needed to find Sam and get her to fill in the eyes. Bernie told him that he was lucky Sam didn't draw a winged dick or something she couldn't fix. Rossi remarked that she was in a mood today, and asked what was going on. She apologized and said it was man trouble, and when she saw Marcus open the door, she asked Rossi to watch her dog, Mac, for a moment. Rossi looked at the dog, who was sprawled out on the floor, and remarked that he seemed a bit mournful. Bernie told him that she thought he was getting arthritic, and she wanted him to keep Mac occupied so he didn't follow her out into the rain. The next day, Rossi and the other NCO's were summoned to a meeting in the bases gymnasium by Hoffman, and they all learned beforehand that Prescott had resigned as Chairman and left Vectes on a ship with his bodyguards. When Hoffman arrived, Rossi took a seat on top of a vaulting horse and joked that he hoped they weren't there to have to raise money send a going away present to Prescott, because he hadn't gotten to sign the going away card. Baird mentioned that Prescott had asked him to join his personal staff, and Rossi said that he must have accepted, explaining why Prescott ran away. Hoffman began speaking, saying that he could clearly see they were all heartbroken over Prescott leaving them and that nothing was going to change, but the emergency evacuation plan was going into effect, but not for the COG to leave, but so that the ships would have room on them to house civilians. Rossi asked who was going to be in command now, and Hoffman told him that he, Captain Quentin Michaelson, and Commander Miran Trescu would all have a vote in what was to be done, but it would be temporary and not turn into a military dictatorship. Trescu joked that those worked more efficiently, causing Rossi and some others to laugh. Rossi asked what they were going to tell the civilians, because patrols were going to be getting a lot of questions from them. Hoffman told him he would do a radio broadcast in a couple of hours to tell them about Prescott, and to prepare for a lot of confusion and grief, since Prescott had been popular with them. He then dismissed them, and Rossi headed out with the others to return to their duties.

Collapse of the COG

Preparing to Leave Vectes

Three months later, the Lambent attacks and incursions worsened, and the command staff began making preparations to evacuate Vectes and spread out into eight onshore coastal communities and two inland ones. However, this solution would effectively end the COG as a government, but Hoffman saw no other way to keep them all alive, and all of the groups would be able to stay in radio contact. Rossi flew aboard KR Eight-Zero to the fortress of Anvil Gate in Kashkur in order to scout it out for potential habitation. After landing, he scouted the fort and found it to be deserted, and that the nearby river was flowing into the underwater cisterns, which would provide the fort with power and water. Rossi got back aboard KR Eight-Zero and they began flying back to the CNV Fort Andius and transmitted their report to Hoffman. One week later, Lambent stalks emerged within New Jacinto itself and began unleashing polyps and other mutated Lambent creatures. Rossi joined up with Anya and Cpl.Jace Stratton to defend an intersection alongside a Armadillo and several armed civilians. They were eventually reinforced by nearly every Gear on base when the Lambent were forced into that one area, and they wiped them out to the last. A few days later, Rossi talked with Bernie in the sergeants' mess about perspectives, and told him about how Hoffman viewed Professor Adam Fenix as an arrogant scientist who should have stayed out of military matter, while her former CO Major Helena Stroud thought Adam had been as hard-assed as any Gear she had ever served with. Bernie also pointed out how he had been responsible for ending the Pendulum Wars with the Hammer of Dawn, and without him the war with the Indies would never have ended.

Arriving at Anvil Gate

"Still all clear, sir. Check-in time."

—Rossi, welcoming Hoffman to Anvil Gate

When the time came to choose where you wanted to go during the evacuation, Rossi and all of his squad volunteered to go to Anvil Gate, where the citizens from Pelruan would be moved to with Hoffman and Bernie in command. Rossi and his men had grown close to the civilians, with several of them having girlfriends among them, so they didn't want to become separated from them When the evacuation began, the Gears and civilians heading for Anvil Gate formed a convoy at Port Caval on the Tyran coast, and Rossi took a Rat bike ahead of the convoy alongside Ormond, a engineer, to get to Anvil Gate early and get it ready for the rest of the convoy to arrive. Four days later, the convoy arrived at Anvil Gate, and Rossi and Ormond opened the massive forts doors for them. Rossi greeted Hoffman at the head of the convoy, and told him that the fort was still all clear. Hoffman thanked him, and then brought Lewis Gavriel to the front of the convoy and turned command of the fort over to him, saying that the Gears would serve at the will of the elected government. Rossi and the others were surprised, but Hoffman convinced Gavriel it was for the best and let him enter the city first. Hoffman then ordered the convoy to head inside, but not to take the peaceful and quiet forest around them for granted, because the Stranded at Corren had claimed there were crazy people up in the mountains around Anvil Gate. Rossi grinned as he entered the town, telling Hoffman that that would be them from now on. Three days later, five trucks were spotted approaching the fort, and Rossi and the other Gears took up defensive positions along the walls. However, it turned out to be Hoffman and Bernie's former comrade Pvt.Padrick Salton leading a group of Pesangas, who joined them in the fort.

Personality and Traits

"Mataki did the catering guys. Those things on the cocktail sticks are not meatballs, okay?"

—Rossi, joking during the opening of the sergeants mess at Vectes Naval Base

Rossi was constantly making jokes, even in life-threating situations. However, he could be very serious and subdued, as shown when David was wounded. Rossi expected a lot from his senior officers, even when they were inexperienced like Anya Stroud. Rossi, like many Gears, took comfort in griping about the situations he faced. Rossi was also something of a ladies man, having several relationships in Pelruan, where he and his squad quickly settled in and got to know the citizens there.