Hammer of Dawn Strikes

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Hammer of Dawn Strikes
Conflict	Locust War
Date	33rd Bloom, 1 A.E.
Place	Sera
Outcome	Pyrrhic COG victory Locust denied of military and technological assets Destruction of all major cities outside the Jacinto Plateau Firestorms and long-term environmental damage Temporary global climate cooling caused by ash cloud Deadlands are created Millions of civilians killed in the strike The Stranded are formed
Combatants
Coalition of Ordered Governments
Locust Horde
Commanders
Chairman Richard Prescott General Bardry Salaman Col. Victor Hoffman Professor Adam Fenix Lt. Anya Stroud
Queen Myrrah
Strength
COG Army Hammer of Dawn
Locust Horde
Casualties
All COG forces and civilians outside of Jacinto Plateau
All Locust forces caught on the surface

"As all of Sera has learned, peace is fragile. This new, ruthless enemy has rendered most of Sera's leaders either helpless or dead. This enemy believes Sera is finished. Some in the Coalition of Ordered Governments also seem to believe Sera is finished - a sick, feeble animal waiting for slaughter. But today, citizens of Sera, we - Tyrus, the heart of the Coalition - will take back our planet. To ensure your safety and cooperation, we are reinstating the Fortification Act. All of Sera will be under martial law. No one is exempt. Survivors should immediately start evacuating to Ephyra. These unclean creatures, these Locust, are unable to penetrate Jacinto's granite base. Therefore, in Jacinto, we are safe - for now. We won't let this rampage go further or surrender power. The Coalition will employ Sera's entire arsenal of orbital beam weapons to scorch all Locust-infested areas. For those citizens who cannot make it to Jacinto, the Coalition appreciates your sacrifice. Please forgive us. This is the only way."

—Chairman Richard Prescott, 30th day of Bloom, 1 A.E.

The Hammer of Dawn Strikes was a global, orbital strike counterattack against the Locust Horde in occupied territories across Sera. The decision to use weapons of the entire arsenal of the Hammer of Dawn weapons was made by newly elected Chairman, Richard Prescott after he was advised that the Locust were advancing upon the COG capital of Ephyra and every city they occupied they gained human technology and resources. Despite debate from his military advisers, Chairman Prescott decided on the counterattack and alerted the public three days prior to the strikes. Chairman Prescott also initiated the Fortification Act - putting all of Sera under martial law. This also included the government's ability to conscript all males to the military and female to birthing farms. In addition to the strikes, Chairman Prescott ordered the placement of COG detachment units in key cities to eradicate any surviving Locust. Following the Hammer Strikes - global destruction and environmental damage ensued, on top of millions of humans killed in the strikes. The survivors of the Hammer strikes came to resent the Coalition for their actions and decided to live outsider of COG jurisdiction, known as the Stranded.

Order of Events

Fall of Ostri

After the fall of Ostri, under the leadership of Premier Deschenko, a retreat was ordered to Pelles. The newly elected Chairman Richard Prescott realized the remainder of the COG nations could not look past their own borders (except for the South Islands) for help. Chairman Prescott decided he must go back on everything the late Chairman David Prescott believed in and had Attorney General Milon Audley draw up the papers to enact the Fortification Act, and requested his cabinet and Gen. Salaman, Col. Hoffman, and Adam Fenix to decide on a timeline for the retreat to Jacinto Plateau.

The Debate

"This is wholesale slaughter."

—Adam Fenix to Chairman Prescott

Locust forces advancing before the Hammer strikes.

With less than a month for the nation of Tyrus to survive, Chairman Prescott announced his plan to his advisors. They reminded him that the Hammer of Dawn strike was not tactical, but strategic in nature. The news did not sit well with Adam Fenix, knowing he would kill his fellow countrymen and countless other millions across Sera, but Prescott surprised Adam when he told them they were going to evacuate every citizen they could into Ephyra city within a three-day deadline. Gen. Salaman reported that the Locust might learn of the evacuation and either retreat or speed up their offensive into Tyrus. So only Tyran Gears were evacuated into the safe-zone, including areas from Zone Three-Alpha.

"I have to tell the people what the stakes are, but we want to catch the Locust on the wrong foot, too."

—Chairman Richard Prescott, on his decision to give only three days time

In regards to Adam Fenix's "ethical" disagreement with the plan, an enraged Col. Hoffman, who was recommended to eliminate all the civilians from Aspho Point (by Adam Fenix, no less) to prevent the UIR from building another Hammer of Dawn, reminded Adam that he built the Hammer of Dawn and that many men and women lost their lives to capture it. Adam and Hoffman debated on how much of humanity would have to die to "save" the COG, what the Hammer was built for, and reminded them how both humans and Locust would be killed off from the Hammer of Dawn, from instantiation to after-effect from particle debris in the atmosphere and water contamination. Adam had one alternative plan, but no time to launch it, leaving only the Hammer of Dawn strike as the only viable option on the table. After Prescott's military advisory agreed to his plan, he brought in his Cabinet to let them in on his decision. Not a single one had a problem with the Fortification Act, but almost all objected to virtually destroying the entire planet. The cabinet, however, had no real say in the matter, only having the "luxury" of finding out before the public. After the cabinet members had been dismissed, Adam followed Richard to his office and revealed his alternative plan to sink key cities, which would result in the flooding of the Hollow. Unfortunately, the plan would ask for too much time, time that, Prescott felt, neither Tyrus nor the rest of humanity had. Unable to convince Prescott, Fenix requested the Chairman to at least rescue his son, who was still outside the security line, which the Chairman agreed to do.

The Hammer is Deployed

"After years of endless war, humanity had finally found peace. Until Emergence Day. When a monstrous, new enemy, black hearted and savage, emerged from below and laid siege to our world. Our losses have been great. Our resolve is far greater. My fellow Tyrans. Today, the Coalition of Ordered Governments strikes back. These unclean beasts, these Locust, will advance no further. I, Chairman Prescott, have authorized a full planetary strike from our Hammer of Dawn weapons arsenal. On my order, the COG has placed infantry detachments in key cities, to mop up any surviving Locust. For those citizens unable to evacuate to safety in time, the Coalition appreciates your sacrifice. Forgive us. This is the only way."

—Chairman Prescott on the 33rd of Bloom, 1 A.E., two hours before the Hammer Strike.

Sera being burned.

After the three day evacuation, 33rd Day of Bloom, the Hammer of Dawn was deployed. While it was normally the Duty Tactical Officer's job to fire the weapon, Prescott decided to take that burden upon himself and personally pressed the two buttons that fired the Hammer of Dawn. At that point, Sera was ultimately destroyed; everywhere but Jacinto Plateau was completely burned to ashes. Among the dead were possibly Colonel Hoffman's wife, Margaret, and her sister, Natalie, who couldn't make it back in time, along with untold, countless millions of others.

Before deploying the Hammer of Dawn, Prescott positioned Gear squads in key cities such as Aldair to kill any Locust survivors. At least some fell to the Locust forces operating under the Locust scientist Ukkon.

Aftermath

Char was created directly from the HoD attack.

In the aftermath of the Hammer strike on Sera, the entire planet succumbed to massive environmental damage, caused by raging firestorms that swept across the landscape. The air was filthy and clogged with debris for weeks. It took five days for enough of the debris to settle for sunlight to filter through. Entire cities were completely leveled. Massive firestorms caused damage for kilometers. Forests were burned and exploding chemical plants seeded massive pollution into the ground and air that would linger for decades, if not centuries. All of the Locust on the surface were presumably killed, but the ones underground, naturally, survived. It took the Lightmass Bombing and the flooding of the Hollow (ironically, the alternate plan Adam Fenix had recommended) to end most of the Locust threat. The ultimate effect of the Hammer of Dawn strike was the creation of an area called the Char, a vast landscape where human bodies were still intact from the fires that had flash-fried them, little more than statues of solidified ash.

The event, having caused destruction, caused those who survived the Hammer strikes to become Stranded, who would loathe the COG for all the destruction and pain they had caused. Many Stranded groups would be hostile whenever they dealt with the COG, especially in areas such as Char where Aaron Griffin's group of Stranded were notoriously hostile to all visitors, especially the COG.

Two hours before the strikes began, Sgt. Gabriel Diaz was dispatched on a mission to recover a classified file from CIC Aldair. After surviving the strikes, Diaz was assigned by Chairman Prescott to lead an operation to kill the Locust scientist Ukkon who had not only survived the strikes, but continued to operate on the surface, building an army of enhanced creatures and posing a significant threat to human survival. Diaz's force of both Gears and Stranded managed to kill Ukkon, but were unable to return to the COG due to Prescott trying to kill them for learning the truth about the origins of the Locust Horde.

Due to this event, following the end of the Lambent Pandemic and reconstruction of Sera, First Minister Anya Stroud, having been in the Hammer of Dawn control room when the strikes occurred, permanently shut down the Hammer of Dawn system and banned it from ever being reactivated again. Her eventual successor, Mina Jinn, continued to uphold Anya's proclamation as she too had witnessed the Hammer strikes and knew that it caused more COG deaths then the Locust, Lambent and Swarm combined. Despite this, the Hammer of Dawn was reactivated to deal with the Swarm threat in 42 A.E.

Appearances

• Gears Tactics
• Gears of War (First appearance) (Appears in flashback(s))
• Gears of War: Ultimate Edition (Appears in flashback(s))
• Gears of War 2 (Appears in flashback(s))
• Jacinto's Remnant (Appears in flashback(s))
• Coalition's End (Appears in flashback(s))
• Gears of War 3 (Appears in flashback(s))